The flag of Ireland, the "Tricolour", shows three vertical stripes in green, white and orange. Green stands for the catholic majority of the population, orange stands for the Irish Protestants (to remember William 3rd of Orange), white stands for reconciliation and peace between both religious denominations. The designing of the flag has it's roots in the in the revolution's years from 1830 and 1848 frequently used French tricolor. Not only in Ireland it served as a pattern for the designing of the national flag. In this way the Irish flag was brought to Ireland by Thomas Francis Maegher in the revolution year 1848, used since 1908 for propaganda purpose, und was for the first time in use in large quantities at the national uprising in the year 1916. On 7 th of January in 1922, Ireland becomes a Free State (Dominion) and must cede Northern Ireland (Ulster) to United Kingdom. The tricolor officially becomes the flag of the country. As the Republic of Ireland was proclaimed on 29th of December in 1937, this flag was confirmed as the official state's symbol. Therewith should be symbolized the irrevocable separation from England, too. Green flags as an Irish symbol have been used at sea since the 17th century. They showed in the flying end of the flag the Brian Boru harp, a historic, Irish instrument from the 14th century and in the upper canton, the heraldry of England and later of United Kingdom. Officially these flags were not, maximally tolerated, because Ireland belonged to England or United Kingdom and had, like other parts of the country, officially to use its flags. Many attempts have been made in rebellions to overthrew the Anglo-British rule. Monochrome green flags with inscriptions or the Brian Boru harp in the middle often played a big role. From 1782 there was an Irish parliament and as a symbol of the country was introduced the Saint Patrick's Cross, which appeared from 1801 in the flag of United Kingdom. However, these flags were only partially recognized by the Irish people but can still be seen until today, albeit very rarely. The green harp flag prevailed in the uprising of 1798 as a national symbol finally. It was, in addition to the current tricolor used since 1848, an unofficial national flag until 1922. Today, the green harp flag is the naval jack of Ireland. The colors of the flag are defined as follows: orange = Pantone 151; green = Pantone 347. The president's standard shows the image of the coat of arms of Ireland, the golden harp on a blue background.
The coat of arms showa a golden harp with silvery strings on a blue blazon. This is the Brian Boru harp, a historic, Irish instrument from the 14th century and has been known since the Middle Ages as a symbol of Ireland. It is kept now at Trinity College in Dublin.
The name "Ireland" contains the old Irish rspectively Indo-Aryan word "ir", which means west. Ireland is the "Westland". West is in Irish today "Siar".
