Sent: -
Received: 24.03.2017
Sender: Lea from Dublin, Ireland
The national flag of Ireland (Irish: bratach
na hÉireann) – frequently referred to as the Irish tricolour (trídhathach na
hÉireann) – is the national flag and ensign of the Republic of Ireland. The
flag itself is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white and orange.
The proportions of the flag are 1:2 (that is
to say, flown horizontally, the flag is half as high as it is wide). Presented
as a gift in 1848 to Thomas Francis Meagher from a small group of French women
sympathetic to the Irish cause, it was intended to symbolise the inclusion and
hoped-for union between Roman Catholics and Protestants, the significance of
the colours outlined by Meagher was, “The white in the centre signifies a
lasting truce between Orange and Green and I trust that beneath its folds the
hands of Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics may be clasped in generous and
heroic brotherhood.”
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.
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