The Irish Flag: Express Your Love of Ireland With This Powerful Irish Symbol!

Displaying the Irish flag is a simple and powerful way to express your love of Ireland. The "Tricolor" is truly representative of the nation it flies over, and is one of the most recognizable of Irish symbols.

Irish Flag - Flying Against a Cloudy Sky

Here we will share a few key points about the Flag, and at the end we will offer simple ideas for expressing Irish culture through this unmistakable symbol of Ireland.

If you would like more information on Irish symbols in general, please visit our main section on Irish symbols here! Meanwhile let's take a closer look at an important symbol of Irish pride.

The Meaning Behind the Irish Flag

The Irish tricolor flag displays 3 equal stripes of orange, white and green.

The orange represents Irish protestants, the green represents Irish Catholics and white stands for the hope of peace between these two groups.

During the time of the Irish Free State (1922 to 1937), the Executive Council adopted the Tricolour as its National flag, a designation that is now formalized in Ireland's constitution.

Where is it Used?

The Flag is flown daily at certain state buildings and all of the military installations.

It is flown as part of the national holiday for St. Patrick's Day, for Easter Sunday and Monday to remember the "Rising of 1916" and on the National Day of Commemoration which celebrates the truce between Anglo and Irish that took place in 1921.

The Tricolour is also carried by the Olympic athletes for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

In 2011, the national flag was flown in Quebec, Canada during the International Sleddog Championship of Canada, in which Ireland was a participant.

Irish Flag - Ireland T-Shirt Against Tri-Color Background

Some Controversy About the Flag

There was another national flag of sorts before the current Irish flag colors.

A green flag, containing the emblem of a golden harp was adopted by the Society of United Irishmen during the 1790s. It was carried in various rebellions and battles.

There is still controversy over the flag of Ireland today.

The Nationalists will fly it on Saint Patrick's Day, while some feel that only the Saint Patrick's Flag should fly to represent the whole island.

Want More Information on the Irish Flag?

There is much more to know about this essential symbol of Ireland. One
of our favorite descriptions comes from our friends at

Meanwhile in Ireland

Please enjoy their lovely site, then return to Irish Expressions for more ideas on how to express your Irish Side, wherever you are in the world!

Want Even More Irish Symbols?

It is probably obvious - at Irish Expressions, we love Irish symbols!

Expressing ourselves through Irish / Celtic symbolism gives us a deeper sense of connection with Ireland, wherever in the world we happen to be!

To help deepen your love of Irish symbolism, we have over the years created many downloadable, share-able Irish games, puzzles, recipes, songbooks, quizzes, and much, much more.

Want them right now? Keep reading to learn about "Your Irish Expressions Playbook."

I Like It! What's Next?

Expressing yourself using Irish symbols is a fun way to share your Irish side, during any Irish-themed occasion.

For more information of this type, you may want to pay a visit to our main section on Irish Symbols here!

If you enjoyed this page in particular, please share your feedback, opinions and stories with your Irish Expressions community! You can do that by visiting us on Facebook.

More Fun With Irish Expressions

Congratulations on learning more about the Emerald Isle and discovering what we like to call your "Irish Side." You may be thinking "I'd love to actually VISIT Ireland but that's really not in the cards right now. What am I supposed to do with the stuff I just learned?"

Well never fear! Since 2009 we have collected all of the best printable, shareable resources we could find, to help you put your new knowledge of Ireland to good use. We've put them all together in a single download we call "Your Irish Expressions Playbook," which contains over 50 pages of games, puzzles, recipes, songbooks, quizzes, travel guides and much, much more.

Purchase them ALL for one small price, print as many copies as you like and share them with your friends - with no limitations! But order soon - we are already adding to the Playbook for future editions and this price will not last long.

Oh, want one more reason to order right away? If you buy YOUR copy of the Playbook now, you will be allowed to upgrade to any new future edition for FREE.