The Irish flag: meaning, design and colours

The Irish tricolour is one of the few national flags whose meaning is a message of peace between two communities. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, the flag is intended to symbolise the inclusion of, and the aspiration for unity between, people of different traditions on the island of Ireland. That idea is now expressed in the Constitution as the entitlement of every person born in the island of Ireland to be part of the Irish nation, regardless of ethnic origin, religion or political conviction.

Green, white and orange

Article 7 of Bunreacht na hÉireann reads: “The national flag is the tricolour of green, white and orange.” The Irish text of the article names the colours as uaine, bán agus flannbhuí.

The guidelines explain the background of the colours:

After the rebellion of 1798, the ideal of a later nationalist generation in the mid-nineteenth century was to make peace between the traditions and, if possible, to found a self-governing Ireland on that peace and union.

Meagher’s words

On 7 March 1848, Thomas Francis Meagher, the Young Ireland leader, flew a tricolour from 33 The Mall in Waterford, where it flew for a week until removed by the authorities. In April that year he presented a tricolour brought from Paris to a meeting in Dublin and explained the colours:

“The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between Orange and Green and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood.”

The 1848 tricolours appeared at meetings across the country alongside French flags, celebrating the revolution that had just taken place in France. The story of the flag from 1848 to 1937 is told in the guide to the history of the flag and flagpole.

The design

Provided the proportions are observed, the flag may be made to any convenient size. The sizes flag makers offer are described in the guide to flag sizes.

Orange, not gold

The early tricolours were not standardised. According to the guidelines, orange was sometimes put next to the staff, at least one flag had the order orange, green and white, and a Parnellite flag of 1883 had yellow, white and green arranged horizontally. Down to modern times, yellow or gold has occasionally been used instead of orange. The guidelines are clear that this substitution destroys the symbolism of the flag, since the orange represents one of the two traditions the flag unites, and describe it as a misrepresentation to be actively discouraged.

On walls and coffins

The colour order follows the flag wherever it is shown. Against a wall, the green is on the observer’s left when the flag hangs horizontally and uppermost when it hangs vertically. On a coffin, the green is at the head. More in the guides to flag protocol and flags in mourning.

The flag and the harp

The tricolour is the National Flag, but not the State emblem. That role belongs to the harp, which appears on the President’s flag, government seals and Irish coins. The flags and emblems are compared in the guide to flags of Ireland.