Flag of Ireland

Ireland’s national flag is a rectangle divided into three equal vertical bands: green beside the staff, white in the center, and orange at the free edge. It is twice as wide as it is high. The design has no harp, shamrock, cross, lettering, or other emblem.

Ireland’s flag colors are green, white, and orange. The government guide specifies PMS 347 green and PMS 151 orange. This downloadable digital reference uses green #169B62, white #FFFFFF, and orange #FF883E. Its HEX and RGB values describe this artwork; they are not presented as official or exact conversions of the Pantone references.

Green represents the older Gaelic tradition, commonly associated with Ireland’s mainly Catholic community. Orange represents the Protestant tradition associated with William of Orange. White expresses peace and reconciliation between them. The overall message is inclusion and a hoped-for union of people from different traditions, rather than a division into permanent opposing camps.

Ireland’s flag has a width-to-height ratio of 2:1: its horizontal length is twice its vertical height. The same relationship is sometimes written 1:2 when height is listed first. The three upright bands have equal width, so each occupies one-third of the total width and extends through the full height.

Start with a rectangle twice as wide as it is high, then divide its width into three equal parts. Fill the first part green, the second white, and the third orange. On a 1200×600 grid, the dividing lines are at x=400 and x=800. Keep all teaching labels outside the clean flag.

The government guide allows any convenient size if the correct proportions are preserved. Examples include 180×90, 90×45, and 30×15 centimeters, with width first. Each follows the same 2:1 construction. These are calculated examples, while some military and naval uses have their own published size specifications for particular settings.

The tricolor’s history extends from early nineteenth-century references through Meagher’s famous 1848 raising and the Easter Rising of 1916. It was adopted by the Irish Free State in 1922 and recognized in the Constitution in 1937. Those milestones describe different stages: public introduction, wider acceptance, state use, and constitutional status.

A green flag with a harp was an important older Irish symbol. The government’s historical account traces that tradition through the seventeenth century and later movements, including the Irish Volunteers and United Irishmen. Early Irish tricolors are mentioned in 1830 and 1844, but the green-harp flag remained prominent before the 1916 Rising.

The celebrated first raising took place on March 7, 1848, when Thomas Francis Meagher flew a tricolor at 33 The Mall in Waterford. The government identifies this as the flag’s first-flown milestone. Its fuller history also records earlier references to Irish tricolors, so 1848 should not be treated as proof that the colors had never appeared before.

Meagher’s connection with the French revolution of 1848 helped give the Irish tricolor its international context. In April he brought a flag from Paris to a meeting in Dublin and explained its message of peace between Irish traditions. That presentation followed the March 7 Waterford raising; it was not the same event.

During the Easter Rising, the tricolor flew over Dublin’s General Post Office alongside a different green flag bearing the words Irish Republic. Its association with the Rising helped establish it in the public imagination as the national flag. The green lettered flag and the tricolor should not be confused with one another.

The government dates adoption of the tricolor by the Irish Free State to 1922. Its position as the national flag was formally confirmed in Article 7 of the 1937 Constitution. The famous Waterford raising in 1848 and the flag’s prominence in 1916 came earlier; they are historical milestones, not interchangeable constitutional adoption dates.

Article 7 of Ireland’s Constitution identifies the national flag as the tricolor of green, white, and orange. It does not itself provide the aspect ratio, Pantone numbers, or a complete display manual. Those technical and ceremonial details are set out in guidance from the Department of the Taoiseach, whose role is advisory.

No harp or shamrock appears on the national tricolor. They are separate Irish state emblems, and the President’s standard is a different flag with a gold harp on blue. St. Patrick’s saltire, a red diagonal cross on white, is another distinct symbol. None of these should be added to the three-band national design.

The tricolor is the national flag of the state of Ireland. It is also used by many Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland, but that cultural or political use is different from official governmental status. The United Kingdom government identifies the Union Flag as Northern Ireland’s official flag, with separate rules governing designated government buildings.

The Thomas F. Meagher Foundation identifies March 16, the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, as its annual National Flag Day. Its school program emphasizes citizenship, inclusion, and respect for the flag. This is distinct from the March 7 anniversary of the 1848 first raising and from Ireland’s National Day on March 17.

Ireland’s National Day is St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. It is also a public holiday and an important occasion for displaying the national flag. The date is separate from the Foundation’s March 16 Flag Day and the March 7 first-raising anniversary. It does not mark the tricolor’s adoption in 1922 or constitutional recognition in 1937.

For a horizontal wall display, green belongs on the observer’s left, followed by white and orange. For a vertical wall display, green must be uppermost, white in the middle, and orange at the bottom. When the flag flies from a staff, green stays beside the staff regardless of which side of the cloth is visible.

In an ordinary row of equal-height staffs, Ireland’s flag takes the place of honor at the observer’s left. If the European Union flag is included, it goes immediately to its right in that arrangement. Full EU-member displays have separate ordering rules. The government guide also describes special arrangements for a higher central staff.

When carried with other flags, the Irish flag occupies the marching right, which appears on the left to an observer facing the approaching group. It should be carried aloft and free. The guidance discourages dipping it as a salute, except to the dead during memorial ceremonies, and distinguishes civilian attention from uniformed hand salutes.

Yes. The September 2025 government guide permits the flag to fly at night if it is properly illuminated throughout, preferably by a spotlight. Ordinary outdoor display is described as sunrise to sunset, with exceptions for the duration of public meetings, processions, and funerals. A blanket claim that nighttime display is always forbidden would be inaccurate.

The government guide describes half-mast as about two-thirds up the pole, leaving at least one flag-depth of clear space above the flag and never going below the staff’s midpoint. Raise it to the peak before lowering to that position, and return it to the peak before taking it down. No other flag should fly alongside during mourning.

When the Irish flag drapes a coffin, the green portion belongs at the head. The Defence Forces describe placing the flag lengthwise and evenly over the coffin at a state or military funeral. Their ceremonial specification is a flag measuring 9 by 4.5 feet with loops; it should not be generalized into a rule for every civilian flag.

The government guide describes a military folding tradition for a flag removed from a coffin, which others may follow. Orange is folded beneath white, then those layers beneath green. A further fold keeps green facing outward; larger flags may need another fold. This is a funeral tradition, not a universal requirement to make a triangular packet.

Keep the flag clear of the ground, water, branches, and other obstructions, and do not display worn or frayed cloth. The government guide calls for dignified destruction or disposal when a flag is no longer fit for display. It does not prescribe burning as the only method. Cleaning and storage should suit the actual fabric.

Common mistakes include substituting yellow or gold for orange, reversing the front-view color order, using unequal bands, or stretching the flag into a 3:2 rectangle. Adding a harp, shamrock, slogan, or sports logo changes the national design. Also avoid treating a reverse-facing photograph, a decorative fringe, or a historical symbol as a different modern national flag.

Ireland’s front-view flag is green-white-orange with a 2:1 width-to-height ratio. Côte d’Ivoire is orange-white-green and usually shown in a 3:2 rectangle. Italy is green-white-red, while France is blue-white-red; their references here are also 3:2. Check both the color beside the staff and the flag’s proportions rather than relying on a thumbnail alone.

The two photographs show the tricolor above Dublin’s General Post Office in August 2003 and at a diplomatic meeting at Shannon International Airport on May 24, 2021. One illustrates a reverse view of flying cloth; the other shows an indoor flag with fringe. Their dates and settings distinguish documentary use from flat reference artwork.

The Ireland flag emoji is 🇮🇪. It consists of the regional indicator symbols I and E, with Unicode code points U+1F1EE and U+1F1EA. Platforms may display that sequence as a flag or as letters. Its small, platform-specific artwork is useful in text but is not a substitute for the full national reference drawing.

The downloads include a clean 2:1 SVG, a 6000×3000 PNG, labeled construction and orientation sheets, a historical timeline, observance and mourning diagrams, comparison graphics, and two documentary photographs. Each gallery item has a local download with an explanatory caption. The national master contains only the green, white, and orange panels, without teaching labels or borders.