flag of Ireland The Flag of Ireland is the national flag of Ireland^[1][2] (Irish: An Bhratach Náisiúnta), also known as the tricolour,^[3] and is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white, and orange. The flag proportion is 1:2 (length twice the width). The green represents a Gaelic tradition while the orange represents the supporters of William of Orange. The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the 'Orange' and the 'Green'.^[4]

First introduced by Thomas Francis Meagher in 1848, it was not until the Easter Rising of 1916, when it was raised above the General Post Office, along with a green flag with words Irish Republic in Dublin, that the tricolour came to be regarded as the national flag.^[5] Meagher was the son of Newfoundland-born mayor of Waterford, Ireland, Thomas Meagher, Jr., and his flag was inspired by the similarly-symbolic Newfoundland Tricolour created in 1843.^[6][7]

The flag was adopted in 1919 by the Irish Republic during its war of independence, and subsequently by the Irish Free State (1922–1937), later being given constitutional status under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. The tricolour is regarded by many nationalists as the national flag of the whole of island of Ireland. Thus it is flown (often controversially) by many nationalists in Northern Ireland as well as by the Gaelic Athletic Association.^[8] The shorter flag of Côte d'Ivoire's colours are the same but reversed in order.