List of flags of Ireland

This article is about flags used to represent the island of Ireland. For the flag of the Republic of Ireland, see Flag of Ireland.

This is a list of flags which have been, or are still today, used in Ireland.

Island of Ireland

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1843–present	Flag of the Young Ireland movement and the unilaterally declared Irish Republic and the official of the Republic of Ireland. This flag is seen by some nationalists as the flag of the whole island. The green symbolises the Gaelic community in Ireland, the orange represents the Orange community in Ireland, the white represents peace between them.	A tricolour of green (hoist side), white and orange.
	??	St. Patrick's Saltire, also known as the Cross of St Patrick, after the patron saint of Ireland. The flag appears within the Union Flag now the official flag of the United Kingdom. It is used by some Unionists, the Church of Ireland and is incorporated into symbols and emblems of various organisations and bodies throughout Ireland.	A red saltire on a white field.
	??	The Four Provinces flag. This flag, and variants of it, have been used by various all-Ireland sports teams and cultural organisations.	The arms of the four provinces of Ireland are shown in quadrants. The order in which the arms appear varies.
		Banner of the Lordship of Ireland, the part of Ireland under the rule of the King of England, styled Lord of Ireland, between 1177 and 1541.	Three crowns on a blue field with a white border.
	1542–1801	Standard of the Kingdom of Ireland. From 1801 has been incorporated in the lower-left quadrant of the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom	A silver stringed gold harp on a blue field.
	approximately 1642-1916	The green harp flag of the 17th century Confederacy of Ireland and an unofficial naval jack of Ireland during the 18th and 19th century. Variants have been used as the basis for numerous flags of Ireland.	A silver stringed gold harp on a green field.
	1916, 1919–1922	The Flag of the Irish Republic, flown alongside the Irish tricolour over the GPO during the Easter Rising.	A green flag with the inscription "Irish Republic".

Northern Ireland

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1922–1973	Personal flag of the Governor of Northern Ireland.	A Union Jack defaced with the Coat of arms of Northern Ireland.
	1953–1972	The Ulster Banner, also known as the Ulster flag or the Red Hand of Ulster flag, was the flag of the Government of Northern Ireland between 1953 and 1972. It is still used to represent Northern Ireland in some sporting events in which Northern Ireland competes.	The flag is a heraldic banner taken from the coat of arms granted in 1924 which is based on the flag of England and the flag of Ulster, with the addition of a crown to symbolise the loyalty of Ulster unionists to the British Monarchy. As with the flag of Ulster, it contains the Red Hand of Ulster at the centre. The six pointed star represents the six counties that make up Northern Ireland.
	1929–1973	Ensign of the former Northern Ireland government.	The blue ensign defaced with the letters GNI. Used on vessels of the Northern Ireland government.

Republic of Ireland

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1922–present	Flag of Ireland	A tricolour, with three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white and orange; (the green symbolises Nationalism, the white Peace and the orange Unionism, therefore the flag represents peace between Nationalists and Unionists). This is the flag of the Republic of Ireland.
	1937–present	Standard of the President of Ireland	A silver stringed gold harp on a blue field

Provincial flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Flag of Ulster	The arms of the nine-county province of Ulster form a composite achievement, combining the heraldic symbols of two of that province’s best known families, namely the cross of de Burgo and the dexter hand of O Neill (Ua Néill, later Ó Néill) Kings of Ailech and Tír Eoghan.
		Flag of Munster	The province of Munster has been heraldically symbolised by three golden antique crowns on an azure blue shield. A crown of the type now known as antique Irish forms an integral element of a thirteenth century crozier head found near Cormac’s Chapel on the Rock of Cashel. In the case of the ‘king-bishops’ of Cashel, the placing of the antique crown on their crozier was a symbolic assertion of their right to the political sovereignty of Munster.
		Flag of Connacht	The arms of Connacht use a dimidiated (divided in half from top to bottom) eagle and armed hand. Ruaidhri O'Conchobhair, King of Connacht, is surmised to have been conceded the arms of Schottenkloster or the Irish monastery founded in Regensburg[citation needed], which approximate to the Connacht Flag of 1651
		Flag of Leinster	A silver stringed golden harp on a green background. Possibly the oldest and certainly the most celebrated instance of the use of the harp device on a green field was the flag of Owen Roe O’Neill. It is recorded that his ship, the St Francis, as she lay at anchor at Dunkirk, flew from her mast top ‘the Irish harp in a green field, in a flag’.
		Flag of Mide	The old province of Mide (Meath), comprising the present-day counties of Meath and Westmeath, and parts of others, was heraldically personified by a representation of a royal personage seated on a throne on an azure field. The arms of Mide were apparently used at one time as the arms of Ireland[citation needed].

City flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Flag of Dublin, the capital city of Ireland
		Flag of Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland

Military flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1684–1922	Flag of the Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) of the British Army. Also known as the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot and the 18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot
	1688–1791	Flag carried in different variations by the Irish Brigade of the French Army	red and green cross, with motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces"
	1710–1815	Flag of the Regiment of Hibernia aka the "O'Neill's Regiment" of the Spanish Army
	1793–1881	Flag of the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot of the British Army
	1798	Flag carried by the United Irishmen at the Battle of Arklow	Green background with white Christian cross and the slogan "Liberty or Death".
	1846–1848	The green silk flag of the Saint Patrick's Battalion of the Mexican Army may have incorporated the old Irish Harp flag (illustrated), which may date back to the Irish Confederacy. However, no original depictions are extant, and period descriptions of it differ.	Green background with Irish Harp, shamrocks and Motto Erin Go Bragh in Gold
	1861–1864	Color of the 28th Massachusetts Infantry regiment of the Irish Brigade (U.S.) of the Union Army	Green background with Irish Harp and motto Faugh a Ballagh (Clear the Way!)
	1861–1864	2d Irish Color of the 69th Infantry Regiment (United States) of the Irish Brigade (U.S.) of the Union Army	Green background with Irish Harp

Ensigns

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	circa 1701 - post 1800	A Green Ensign flown by some Irish merchant vessels.	A gold harp on a green background with the English Flag in the canton.
	post 1800 - c.1922	A later version of the Green Ensign.	A gold harp on a green field with the Union Flag in the canton.
		Ensign of the National Yacht Club of the Republic of Ireland.	A blue field with a gold harp and the Irish tricolour in the canton.
		Ensign of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club.	The blue ensign defaced with the Red Hand of Ulster and St Edward's Crown.

Organisations

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Flag of the St John Ambulance Brigade, flown by the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland.
		Flag of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and a small number in the Republic of Ireland.	An orange field with a purple star and a St George's Cross in the canton.
		Flag of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, a Protestant fraternal organisation based in Derry City, Northern Ireland.	A crimson field.
		Flag of the Loyalist Volunteer Force, a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland.	A red background bearing the red hand of Ulster with the slogan "For God and Ulster" and a St George's Cross in the canton.

Sporting flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1925–present	Flag of the Irish Rugby Football Union
		Flag of the Ireland national field hockey team
		Flag of the Ireland cricket team	Three shamrocks on a blue background.

Other flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1893–present	The Sunburst flag, based on the flag of the mythological warriors the Fianna.	Blue background with a golden sunburst showing partially in the bottom left corner. Used by nationalists and republicans.
	1910s–present	The starry plough flag that succeeded the starry plough banner. Used by socialists, nationalists and republicans.	White stars on a light blue background.
	1932–1933	Historical flag of Fine Gael as well as the quasi-fascist Blueshirts paramilitary group that was a faction in Fine Gael. It bore the St. Patrick's Saltire defacing a dark blue background (dark blue being a historical Irish national colour).	A red saltire on a blue field.
		Flag of a proposed independent Ulster nation. Used by Ulster nationalists.	St Andrew's Saltire overlayed with St Patrick's Cross, defaced with a golden six pointed star representing the six counties of Northern Ireland containing the red hand of Ulster.

See also

• GAA county colours
• List of Northern Irish flags
• Northern Ireland flags issue
• Cross-border flag for Ireland

External links

• Symbols in Northern Ireland - Flags Used in the Region by Dara Mulhern and Martin Melaugh; illustrated article from CAIN Project (Conflict Archive on the INternet)
• National Library of Ireland