{"id":997,"date":"2014-03-20T09:16:06","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T13:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=997"},"modified":"2024-10-02T12:44:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T16:44:02","slug":"irish-flags-colors-have-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish flag\u2019s colors have meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ireland<\/a>People marked St. Patrick\u2019s Day in many ways: eating corned beef and green cabbage, drinking green beer, and \u201cthe wearin\u2019 o\u2019 the green.\u201d So why does the national flag of Ireland<\/span><\/a> have two colors in addition to the hue that has traditionally represented that country?<\/p>\n

The World Factbook describes the Irish flag as having \u201cthree equal vertical bands of green, white and orange,\u201d and then notes that \u201cofficially the flag colors have no meaning.\u201d
\n
\nThat would be very unusual for any nation\u2019s standard. The vast majority of flags, if not all, are made up of colors and symbols that represent something significant to the people waving them. That\u2019s what flags are for. The U.S. flag<\/span><\/a>, for example, has 13 stripes for the original colonies and a star for each state, thus showing both the origin and growth of the nation.<\/p>\n

Surely, Ireland doesn\u2019t want to be confused with two other \u201cI\u201d nations. As the Factbook points out, Eire\u2019s strips match those of\u00a0 the Ivory Coast banner<\/span><\/a>, which \u201chas the colors reversed,\u201d as well as Italy\u2019s flag<\/span><\/a>, which substitutes red for orange.<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s standard evolved in the 19th<\/sup> century, when the emerald island was part of the British Empire. According to the Irish government\u2019s website, the colors shifted at times but generally had religious meanings: green for Catholics, orange for most Protestants and at one time blue for Presbyterians.<\/p>\n

\"William<\/a>
William of Orange<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The use of orange derived from William of Orange, a Dutchman who was king of England from 1689 to 1702. A Protestant, he supplanted James II, a Catholic. Orange was a place name in what is now Holland. William\u2019s succession to the British throne was made possible through his wife Mary\u2019s family line.<\/p>\n

When Ireland attained its independence in the 20th<\/sup> century, the flag\u2019s colors were standardized with special emphasis put on never substituting yellow for orange.<\/p>\n

\"William<\/a>
William and Mary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The World Factbook suggests that the colors do have meanings that are popularly accepted, even though they are not officially sanctioned. The \u201ccommon interpretation,\u201d notes the Factbook, \u201cis that green represents the Irish nationalist (Gaelic) tradition,\u201d while the orange stands for \u201cthe Orange tradition\u201d (i.e. Protestant).<\/p>\n

The white, located in between the two other colors, \u201csymbolizes peace between the green and orange,\u201d i.e. between the Catholics and Protestants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People marked St. Patrick\u2019s Day in many ways: eating corned beef and green cabbage, drinking green beer, and \u201cthe wearin\u2019 o\u2019 the green.\u201d So why does the national flag of Ireland have two colors in addition to the hue that has traditionally represented that country? The World Factbook describes the Irish flag as having \u201cthree… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,39,3,180,181,182],"class_list":["post-997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-catholic","tag-history","tag-ireland-flag","tag-protestant","tag-st-patricks-day"],"yoast_head":"\nIrish flag\u2019s colors have meaning - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Irish flag\u2019s colors have meaning - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People marked St. Patrick\u2019s Day in many ways: eating corned beef and green cabbage, drinking green beer, and \u201cthe wearin\u2019 o\u2019 the green.\u201d So why does the national flag of Ireland have two colors in addition to the hue that has traditionally represented that country? The World Factbook describes the Irish flag as having \u201cthree... continue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-20T13:16:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-02T16:44:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Irelands-flag-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/\",\"name\":\"Irish flag\u2019s colors have meaning - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Irelands-flag-300x200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-20T13:16:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-02T16:44:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Irelands-flag.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Irelands-flag.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Ireland flag\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/irish-flags-colors-have-meaning\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Irish flag\u2019s colors have meaning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\",\"name\":\"James Breig\",\"description\":\"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. 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