Northern Ireland flags issue
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The Northern Ireland flags issue is one that divides the population along sectarian lines. Depending on political allegiance, people identify with differing flags and symbols, some of which have, or have had, official status in the province.
There are various proposals as to what flag could represent Northern Ireland's various communities as a whole; see below for some suggestions.
[edit] Prominent flags displayed
[edit] Union Flag
The flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Flag or Union Jack, is the only flag routinely used on central government buildings in Northern Ireland.[1] It is made from an amalgamation of the crosses of St. Andrew (representing Scotland), St. George (representing England) and St. Patrick (representing Ireland).
The Union Flag is often flown by unionists and loyalists but is disliked by many nationalists and republicans.
[edit] The Ulster Banner
The Ulster Banner, the former Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland flag, was used from 1953-1972 by the devolved Stormont government to represent the government of Northern Ireland. [2]. Therefore, when the government of Northern Ireland was suspended in March 1972 and dissolved under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, its arms and flag officially disappeared; however, the flag continues to be used by some local governments, such as the predominantly unionist Castlereagh, who continue to fly it outside their offices[3], and by some NGOs (such as sports teams) representing the territory. It is currently still considered by some Unionists to be a de facto civil flag to uniquely represent Northern Ireland. It continues to be used by some sports teams representing Northern Ireland internationally, for example by the Northern Ireland football team[4], and by the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games team[5].
The Banner dates from 1953, though the design (which appears in the Northern Ireland coat of arms which dates from 1924) is based on the flag of the Irish province of Ulster which covered what is now Northern Ireland and three counties of the Republic of Ireland. There are three differences with the Flag of Ulster, namely the white background, the six-pointed star (representing the six Northern Ireland counties), and the including of the crown.
[edit] Irish Tricolour
The flag of the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Tricolour is regularly flown by Republicans and Nationalists to show their support for a United Ireland. The colours represent Irish Catholics (green), Protestants (orange) and the desire for peace (white) and was originally designed by Irish Nationalists in the 19th century to represent a united independent island. In its original 19th century form, the orange band was at the mast-side of the flag. In the early 20th century when the flag was re-adopted by Irish nationalists it was altered to have the green band closest to the mast.
The Flags and Emblems Act, 1954 which had been enacted by the Unionist Government at Stormont restricted the display of flags and emblems which would cause a breach of the peace, which in practical terms affected the Tricolour most often. This act was repealed in 1987 by the UK Government at Westminster.
The flying of the Irish Tricolour by Nationalists in Northern Ireland on St Patrick's Day has caused some controversy, with Unionists arguing that St Patrick is the patron saint of the whole of Ireland, not just the Republic of Ireland or its citizens. However Nationalists argue that the flag represents peace (white) between both nationalist Irish (green) and unionist British (orange) and it should be viewed as such as there is no official flag at present for the whole of Ireland. Nationalists believe that there should not be a problem with flying the tricolour on this day as Unionists fly the former flag of the Northern Ireland Government (The Ulster Banner) during the 12 July Celebrations.
Some local councils have debated the usage of the flag. Belfast City Council for example, had this flag in the Lord Mayor's official office, when put in place by former Sinn Féin Lord Mayor Alex Maskey, MLA, along with the Union Flag. When the Social Democratic and Labour Party's (SDLP) Alban McGuinness was previously Lord Mayor, however, he side-stepped the issue by having neither flag in his office.
Use of the flag in Northern Ireland has been debated in recent years, with Belfast City Council discussing (in September 2003), amongst other things, using the flag to fly alongside the Union Flag on designated occasions. The debate, however, all but collapsed after the long term suspension of the Northern Ireland government.
[edit] Flags and emblems no longer in official use
[edit] Cross of Saint Patrick
The Cross of St Patrick is a red saltire (X-shaped cross) on a white field. It may have been based on the arms of the Fitzgerald family[6] among other theories[7] but is generally believed to be unrelated to Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, and was not widely used or recognised as a symbol of Ireland before the 19th century. It was used chosen to represent Ireland first on the badge of the The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick in 1783 and then on the Union Flag arising from the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801.
Although not recognised by Irish nationalists as a genuine symbol of Ireland, it is seen by some as a neutral flag representing the island of Ireland. It is used in some St. Patrick's Day parades in Northern Ireland, notably in parades organised by Down District Council and Belfast City Council and flown at some council offices (notably Belfast City Hall).[8] In the case of the City Hall, this happened first in 1994, after the council's Policy and Resource committee had passed a resolution approving its use in January of that year. It is also used on the emblem of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.[9]
[edit] Flags used in an all-Ireland context
[edit] Provincial Ulster flag
The flag of the Ulster - the nine-county province that incorporates three counties from the Republic of Ireland and the six counties of Northern Ireland - flown in Gaelic Athletic Association matches both between provincial and county-based teams. It is also often used by supporters of the Ulster rugby team[citation needed] and notably appears on the coat of arms of the Ulster Unionist Party.
[edit] Four Provinces Flag
The "four provinces flag" incorporates the flags of the four Irish provinces of Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht, and is sometimes used to represent the entire island of Ireland. It is used by nationalists and by some all-Ireland institutions such as the Irish Rugby Football Union and is intended to be a more neutral flag than the Irish tricolour.
[edit] Flag of the Irish Cricket Team
The flag of the Irish cricket team was made to represent the island of Ireland in it's entirety. Although it has no official usage outside cricket, it is a neutral flag of Ireland
[edit] Other flags
[edit] Ulster Nation Flag
This flag is used by Ulster separatists who wish to see Northern Ireland leave the United Kingdom and become an independent state, not joining together with the Republic of Ireland.
The flag is made up of St Andrew's cross (below), St Patrick's Cross (above) and the red hand and star from the Northern Ireland flag (above), with the star coloured yellow (instead of white as in the Ulster Banner) based on the colours of the flag of the Irish province of Ulster.
[edit] St Andrew's Cross
St Andrew's Cross is the traditional flag of Scotland, and is one of the flags which makes up the Union Flag. It is used by some Loyalists in Northern Ireland to highlight their Scottish ancestry and even today the Protestant people within Northern Ireland have strong links with Scotland. St Andrew was one of the disciples of Jesus Christ and the flag is said to have been inspired by a white cross of cloud appearing on a blue sky to a Scottish King preparing for battle.
[edit] Possible replacements
As there is currently no unique official flag for Northern Ireland, there have been various suggestions about what should be done. Apart from reusing an existing flag (such as the Cross of St Patrick), various new designs have been created.
This flag was being considered by the UK Government in the late 1990s and was leaked to BBC News[10]. It was never officially proposed. It is essentially the old NI Government Flag with the crown removed and some yellow taken from the Province of Ulster Flag.
When this flag was shown by journalists to various people around Belfast, the reaction was mainly unfavourable. Although some liked its inclusive nature, many responses were along the lines of "We already have a flag, it's the Union Jack" or "We already have a flag, it's the Tricolour".
This was a later design from the Flag Institute in 1998 shortly after the Good Friday Agreement, and again reaction was muted. The design attempted to hark back to the ancient flags of Ulster and the origins of the two communities. It retains the gold and red cross arms of the de Burgh Earls of Ulster and ancient symbol of the Red Hand of Neil, which appears on both the flags of loyalists and republicans. The six pointed star was dropped for being "too loyalist" for the republican community. The white fimbration (or edge) to the cross was included for two reasons, one to reflect the Norse heritage of Ulster and secondly to echo the Union flag. This was to balance the use of a gold background on the Provincial Ulster Flag and the white background of the Ulster Banner.
This flag is a hybrid between the St. Patrick's Cross and the Ulster Banner. It adds the Red Hand of Ulster and the six-pointed star to the St. Patrick's Flag, but does not add the crown and dispenses with the St. Georges' Cross found on the Ulster Banner.
In 2003, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, one of the two Assembly Parties (the other being the Greens) which claim to represent both Nationalists and Unionists, came up with a few suggestions. One showed a flax flower, another a few steps from the Giant's Causeway and another (pictured, to left), a map of Northern Ireland (compare with the Korean Unification Flag).
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/adhocs/flags/flags.pdf
- ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica says: According to British tradition, a coat of arms or flag is granted to the government of a territory, not to the people residing there
- ^ Castlereagh Borough Council, Northern Ireland
- ^ FIFA website
- ^ http://www.commonwealthgames.com/ Commonwealth Games website. Choose "Northern Ireland" from the "Countries" menu.
- ^ history of the union jack
- ^ St Patrick's Flag
- ^ "Paddy's Day Belfast Bash" from Everything Ulster, 17 March 2006
- ^ Cross Of St Patrick
- ^ BBC Inside Ulster Report circa 1995
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Symbols in Northern Ireland - Flags Used in the Region by Dara Mulhern and Martin Melaugh; illustrated article from CAIN Project (Conflict Archive on the INternet)
