Saint Patrick's Flag
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The Saint Patrick's Flag features a red saltire, a crux decussata (X-shaped cross), on a white field; representing Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is also known as the Saint Patrick's Cross. In heraldic language, it may be blazoned Argent, a saltire gules.
This flag served unofficially to represent Ireland from the foundation of the Order of Saint Patrick in 1783 until the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The flag, however, was never accepted or popular with Irish nationalists, who saw it as a British invention.
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[edit] History
The flag was incorporated into the Union Jack following creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by the Act of Union of 1800, representing Ireland within the Union alongside the St George's Cross for England and Saint Andrew's Flag for Scotland.
The origin of the design is uncertain. Strictly speaking, "Saint Patrick's Cross" is a misnomer, as Saint Patrick was not a martyr. The symbol may have been adopted from the arms of the Earl of Kildare (the FitzGerald family), influential in the early history of the Kingdom of Ireland. The pattern on Saint Patrick's Flag clearly resembles that of the Flag of Scotland. An Irish coin from the 1480s has two saltires on it. A map of the 1601 battle of Kinsale shows a combined Irish/Spanish force under a red saltire, though this may be the Cross of Burgundy Flag. The seal of Trinity College, Dublin, from the same period, shows the saltire under a harp, opposite Saint George's Cross under a lion. Two Dutch seventeenth century guides also described it as the Irish flag.
In the 1930s, a variation of the flag with a blue background was adopted as the badge and flag of the Blueshirts. This militant group incorporated right-wing, conservative and some former-unionist elements in opposition to the then left-wing republican Fianna Fáil party.
Today the Saint Patrick's Flag is rarely seen, apart from being one of the components of the Union Flag of the United Kingdom. Among Irish nationalists, the Irish tricolour is generally viewed as the flag of the entire island of Ireland; however unionists regard this flag as specific to the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, when a flag is needed to represent the entire island, the Saint Patrick's Flag is sometimes used to avoid offending unionists. This is done by some all-island bodies including the (Anglican) Church of Ireland, and formerly the Irish Rugby Football Union. The flag is also used by the tiny pro-Unionist Reform Movement in the Republic. For similar motives of inclusivity, it is the basis of the police badge of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland and that of the Commissioners of Irish Lights.
- See also: Northern Ireland flags issue
[edit] Outside Ireland
Two U.S. state flags have similar designs to Saint Patrick's Flag: the flag of Alabama and the flag of Florida. However, Alabama's is officially a "crimson cross of Saint Andrew," but may actually be based on the Confederate Battle Flag. Florida's may be based on the Burgundian Saltire (the flag of New Spain), used by the Spanish Empire. Also, the flag of the southern chilean city of Valdivia, has a nearly identical design. Similarly, the Spanish island of Tenerife and the remote Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia also use the saltire on their flags.
