Northern Ireland has not officially had its own flag since 1973. The flag of the Unitd Kingdom is used. The today as flag of Northern Ireland known flag, the Ulster Banner, was introduced in 1924, and it combines the flag of England (red St. George's Cross on white ground) with the coat of arms of Ulster. This is a six-point red bordered white star with a red hand in the centre. In the flag, the top of the coat of arms is completed with the British Crown as a sign of the British sovereignty. The six points of the star stand for the historic six counties of the land. The Ulster banner became official in 1953 and was used until 1973, when government and parliament were abolished. Today only the flag of United Kingdom is officially used. However, the Ulster banner is still very popular, particularly among loyalists, and is also used unofficially at sporting events to represent the country. The colors in the UlsterBanner (actually only red) are basically subordinated to the correct color representation of the Union Jack and thus correspond to the colors of the flag of the United Kingdom: blue pt 280 c and red pt 186 c.
