Ireland Flag Pictures
St. Patrick's Day Makes Ireland's Flag One of the Most Recognized in the World
The flag of the Republic of Ireland, a vertical tricolor consisting of the colors of green, white and orange, is one of the most recognizable national banners in the world - and not just to natives of this island that is Europe's third largest and the world's 20th largest, but around the world.
The flag in its current state, which bears a striking resemblance to the French tricolor, has been the official flag since 1919. However, even before that the tricolor design was used, though sometimes the colors were in a different order. The oldest reference to the three colors in other forms was in 1830, but 1848 was the first time a tricolor flag was seen when it was introduced by Thomas Francis Meagher, leader of the Young Ireland movement. The tricolor was adopted in 1919 by the Irish Republic, and then the Irish Free State, and given official constitutional status in 1937.
While officially the colors of the Irish flag have no meaning, urban legends have arisen that explain the reasons for the colors. One states the green stands for Catholics, orange for Protestants and white for peace between them, while another maintains that the green represents the older Gaelic traditions, the orange followers of William of Orange and the white a lasting truce between the two sides.
Despite the symbolism of the flag - peace and unity between the two separate groups in Ireland - that is far from reality. In 1921, Ireland was divided when the unionist-dominated north-east became Northern Ireland and a part of the United Kingdom. A year later, the remainder of Ireland broke away to form the Irish Free State. Even today, many see the tricolor, along with other banners of British or Irish identity, as just another sign of the country's division. Many nationalists in Northern Island regard the tricolor banner as the national flag of the entire island of Ireland, and continually cause controversy when they fly the colors in Northern Ireland.
Like the French tricolor it emulates, the Irish flag was designed to represent a compromise between two divided sides. Unfortunately, also like the French flag, the Irish tricolor has failed to do so and has instead become the prototypical republican flag, from which republicans draw their inspiration.
No matter what your background or belief system, showing your national pride has never been easier. No flagpole or a way to show off this signal of your homeland? No problem. At Flagpictures.org, computer and cell phone wallpaper, vector printable clip art, avatars, screensaver and more are available free! All of these images are royalty-free and won't cost you a dime, not even for the high resolution downloads!
Purchase Ireland Flags from United-states-flag.com
Info on Irish Flags at Wikipedia.org
Flags of Ireland at Theodora.com
Find Info on Ireland on Flags.net
Copyright © 2008 Online Stores, Inc. 
