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Ireland redirects here, For the island as a whole, see Ireland (island). For other uses, see Ireland (disambiguation).
Ireland (Irish: Éire), also known as the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann), is a country in Northwestern Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland.
Description[]
Concerning the national flag of Ireland, the Constitution of Ireland simply states in Article 7:
The national flag is the tricolour of green, white and orange.
Symbolism[]
The green pale of the flag symbolises Roman Catholics, the orange represents the minority Protestants. The white in the centre signifies a lasting peace and hope for union between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. The flag, as a whole, is intended to symbolise the inclusion and hoped-for union of the people of different traditions on the island of Ireland.
History[]
The national flag of Ireland (Irish: bratach na hÉireann), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' (an trídhathach) and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour was presented as a gift in 1848 to Thomas Francis Meagher from a small group of French women sympathetic to Irish nationalism.
It was not until the Easter Rising of 1916, when it was raised above Dublin's General Post Office by Gearóid O'Sullivan, that the tricolour came to be regarded as the national flag. The flag was adopted by the Irish Republic during the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). The flag's use was continued by the Irish Free State (1922–1937) and it was later given constitutional status under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. The tricolour is used by nationalists on both sides of the border as the national flag of the whole island of Ireland since 1916. Thus it is flown by many nationalists in Northern Ireland as well as by the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Historical Flags[]
.svg "Royal Standard of Ireland (1542–1801).svg (54 KB)")
Former national flag proposals[]
.svg.png "1920px-Proposed flag of Ireland (1928).svg.png (292 KB)")
.svg "Proposed flag of Ireland (1937).svg (385 bytes)")
.svg.png "1920px-Proposed flag of Ireland (1939).svg.png (176 KB)")
.svg "Proposed flag of Ireland (1951).svg (481 bytes)")
.svg "Proposed flag of Ireland (1957).svg (691 bytes)")
Flag Proposals[]
See also[]
| Ireland V • T |
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Countries
Cities
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| Europe V • T |
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Disputed states
Dependencies and overseas territories
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