Monday, 13 June 2011

Irish Flag Colors

The flag of Ireland, was adopted in 1919, during the war of independence, although it was first used in 1848. The proportion of the flag is 1:2, which means the length is twice the width. It is called as the ‘Irish tricolor’ and has vertical stripes of three colors. The Irish flag colors are green, white and orange. The placement of the Irish flag colors is also significant. The flag has green color at the hoist, next to the green is the white color and at the end is the orange color. All the stripes of colors in the flag are of equal size. We will now read on, what does Irish flag colors represent.

Irish Flag Colors Meaning

Officially, there is no meaning of Irish flag colors, which is mentioned in the Irish Constitution. However, you will come across a number of common interpretations of the colors of the flag of Ireland. First of the interpretations is, that the green color in the flag stands for Catholic majority, while the orange stands for the Protestant minority. The peace and unity between the Catholics and the Protestants is represented by the white color, that stands between the green and the orange color.

The other connotation of the Irish flag colors is, that the green stands for the Gaelic and Anglo-Norman tradition, that existed in Ireland, whereas orange stands for the the supporters of William of Orange. Like mentioned in the previous meaning, the white in between the green and the orange signifies the everlasting truce between the ‘Green’ and the ‘Orange’.

The green color in the Irish flag represents the native people of Ireland, whereas the orange color are the British, who settled in Ireland. Again the white is for the peace, that exists between the natives and the British.

There are many interesting facts about Ireland, out of which we read on the fact associated with the Irish flag. Ireland was predominantly a Catholic country. William of Orange, the King of England, Scotland and Ireland defeated the deposed King James II, in the battle of Boyne, near Dublin. The King of England was a Protestant, on the other hand King James II was a Catholic. With the victory of King William of England, he was able to secure Protestant dominance over the island. There is also an interesting story of why the King was called as William of Orange. The title came from the Principality of Orange, located in Southern France, which has been a Protestant principality since the 1500’s. When the battle of independence started the color orange was included in the flag, to reconcile the Orange supporters of Ireland into the fold.

Like the use of orange has significance in history, there is also significance associated with the green color. The green color, which in most connotations stands for the natives of Ireland, also stands for the Irish shamrocks and verdant landscapes seen in Ireland. Along with these meanings it also symbolizes the green revolution. Previously, the Irish flag had green color as the base color and there was a golden harp on the green background. This flag was used from 1798 till the early twentieth century. Hence, the color was also included in the flag.

The Irish flag colors were unfurled by militant nationalist Thomas Francis Meagher, however the stripes in the flag were arranged in a different order. Although the flag was designed in mid 1800’s, it was adopted only in 1919, during the Irish war of independence from Britain. In some flags, you may come across the use of yellow color in place of the orange color. However, it is a misinterpretation, therefore it is actively discouraged. At the same time, if the color is worn out, then the flag has to be replaced and the Irish flag colors should look like green at the flag staff, with white in between and orange towards the end with the vertical stripes in equal size.

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