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Eire, Republic of Ireland, Poblacht na hEireann
History of the Flag
The stripes were found in a different order in the early (pre-independence) days.
James Dignan, 14 May 1996
The oldest known reference to the use of the three colours (green, white and orange) as a nationalist emblem dates from September 1830 when tricolour cockades were worn at a meeting held to celebrate the French revolution of that year - a revolution which restored the use of the French tricolour. The colours were also used in the same period for rosettes and badges, and on the banners of trade guilds. There is also one reference to the use of a flag 'striped with orange and green alternately'. However, the earliest attested use of a tricolour flag was in 1848 when it was adopted by the Young Ireland movement under the influence of another French revolution. Speeches made at that time by the Young Ireland leader Thomas Francis Meagher suggest that it was regarded as an innovation and not as the revival of an older flag.
Vincent Morley, 8 January 1997
The Irish television channel RTE 1 included the following flag-related item on its main news programme last night.
A historian named Dermot Power has established that the tricolour was publicly unveiled by Thomas Francis Meagher, a leader of the Young Ireland movement, at a meeting in his native city of Waterford on 7 March 1848 - exactly 150 years ago today. The report showed the large second-floor window from which he addressed a crowd in the street below and at which the flag was displayed.
This discovery pushes back the history of the flag by five weeks: it had previously been thought that it was first displayed by Meagher at a meeting held in Dublin on 15 April 1848. More importantly, the television report stated that Meagher informed the Waterford meeting that the flag was being shown for the first time. No such claim was made at the later Dublin meeting, an omission which had led to speculation that the flag might have been in use for some time before 1848. This possibility now appears to have been excluded.
Vincent Morley, 9 March 1998
The use of the Irish tricolour flag in the period 1922-39 was almost entirely confined to the territory of the Irish Free State. To many, perhaps to most, Irish people it was still 'the Sinn Fein Flag'. From Hayes-McCoy (1979), A History of Irish Flags from Earliest Times
It was used unofficially by the government in the Irish Free State, but not with the intention that it should become the national flag:
"The government in Ireland have taken over the so called Free State Flag in order to forestall its use by republican element and avoid legislative regulation, to leave them free to adopt a more suitable emblem later."
[PRO document DO 117/100 written in 1928]
In the event the tricolour was adopted as the national flag, but not until 1937.
David Prothero, 1 February 2001
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Colour of the Flag
An official document (115 kbyte PDF file) describing the protocol to be observed when displaying the Irish national flag gives Pantone colours for green 347, and orange 151.
Dean McGee, 18 October 2001
This translate to browser safe RGB as:
PMS 151 RGB:255-102-0 (#FF6600)
PMS 347 RGB:0-153-102 (#009966)
(Note: conversion from PMS to RGB depends so much on software and monitor settings, parameters and preferences that almost always such conversion is *not* a loss in color detail.)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 October 2001
In CMYK values this would be:
Green C 100 - M 0 - Y 80 - K 10
Orange C 0 - M 40 - Y 90 - K 0
Ivan Sache, 18 October 2001
In spite of it being described on an official website, I am not quite satisfied with the green colour. I think it it looks way too pale, in comparison with other green flags we have. Maybe (just maybe) 0-153-51 would do a bit better?
Zeljko Heimer, 21 October 2001
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Meaning of the Colours
Officially (i.e. in the national constitution) the colours of the Irish flag have no meaning. However many urban legends have arisen to account for the colours. Some are presented below:
From this webpage: The Green is for the Catholics, the Orange for the Protestants and the white for the peace between them. Every once in a while when you see a green-white-yellow (instead of orange) flag around the country here, that person is basically disagreeing.
Heather, 27 April 2003
From a Government webpage: The green represents the older Gaelic tradition while the orange represents the supporters of William of Orange. The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the 'Orange' and the 'Green'.
There are a few reason why Green is associated with Catholics in Ireland - Coming from the long struggle for independence. Around the time of the American Revolution, there was anxiety in the ruling classes of Europe; fearing that the ideas of liberty and so on would spread to their own population and spark some kind of revolt. This was very true in Ireland - Where resentment to British rule was very strong. Green had always been associated with Ireland as a nation, and with the revolutionary groups within it. For a while around 1776, the wearing of the colour green was actually barred by the authorities, giving rise to the song of the same name.
Green was the colour of sympathy for independance around this time, and has pretty much stuck with that until this day. The modern flag arrives much later, as a compromise flag - Which ironically, today, is used as a symbol for (complete) independence.
Jim McBrearty, 29 April 2003
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