The Tricolour was used sparingly between 1848 and 1910, adopted by groups like the Irish Democratic Alliance in 1850 and flown at nationalist events. Its most important adoption was by various Fenian groups, first recorded in America then Ireland. It became the secretive symbol of
Clan na Gael in America, while in Ireland it was used by the
Irish Republican Brotherhood. Despite this ongoing use, much of it subtle or behind closed doors, up to the eve of the
Easter Rising of 1916, the green flag featuring a harp held undisputed sway as the most popular national symbol. In 1883, a
Parnellite tricolour of yellow, white and green, arranged horizontally, was recorded. Down to modern times, yellow or gold has occasionally been used instead of orange, but by this substitution the fundamental symbolism is destroyed. Other flags flown, like the Irish Republic flag, were considered 'banners'. The Green Harp flag flew also, Michael Staines explaining it was used as many Irish men still considered this the national symbol, particularly those who had not been sworn into the I.R.B. After the Rising the flag saw a rapid ascension to the most popular symbol of Ireland, being adopted by the
Executive Council without contest for the
Irish Free State, which existed between 1922 and 1937. The
Free State constitution did not specify national symbols; the decision to use the flag was made without recourse to statute. When the Free State joined the
League of Nations in September 1923, the new flag "created a good deal of interest amongst the general public" in
Geneva. The defeated
republicans who had fought the Free State's forces in the
1922–23 Civil War regarded the tricolour as the flag of the self-proclaimed
Irish Republic, and condemned its appropriation by the new state, as expressed in the song "
Take It Down From The Mast". They differentiated their Tricolour by putting the words I.R for Irish Republic on the white field. The Executive Council's decision was a provisional one. A 1928 British document said: In 1937, the tricolour's position as the national flag was formally confirmed by the new
Constitution of Ireland. The collier
Glenageary may have been the first ship to arrive in a British port flying the tricolour on 8 December 1921, two days after the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed. Their ensign, along with a model of
Glenageary, is currently on display in the
National Maritime Museum of Ireland. While some ships such as the cross-channel ferries flew the Red Ensign, others sailed under the tricolour. Some masters of Irish ships were charged by
HM Customs and Excise and fined by
Admiralty courts for flying an "improper ensign". The tricolour was flown by the
fisheries patrol vessel
Muirchú, precursor to the
Irish Naval Service;
Frank Carney alleged in the Dáil in 1930 that a
trespassing French trawler had refused to surrender to because it did not recognise
Muirchú's flag. When the tricolour was hoisted over the passenger ferries in
Holyhead their British crews went on strike. Five days later their owners transferred the ferries to the British register and the Red Ensign was restored. On the other hand, the
Belfast to Liverpool ferry, British owned and British crewed, used the tricolour as a
flag of convenience; so did the
whalers of
Christian Salvesen Shipping, to take advantage of the Irish whale quota. The tricolour's marine status was formalised by the Merchant Shipping Act 1947.
Use in Northern Ireland In 1921, Ireland was
partitioned, with the
unionist-dominated north-east becoming
Northern Ireland, while later, in 1922, the remainder of Ireland left the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to form the
Irish Free State. Northern Ireland continued to use the UK's
Union Flag and created its
Ulster Banner derivation of the
flag of Ulster with a crown on top of a six-pointed star. Furthermore, for many years the tricolour was effectively banned in Northern Ireland under the
Flags and Emblems (Display) Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 which empowered the police to remove any flag that could cause a
breach of the peace but specified, rather controversially, that a Union Flag could never have such an effect. In 1964, the enforcement of this law by the
Royal Ulster Constabulary at the behest of
Ian Paisley, involving the removal of a single tricolour from the offices of
Sinn Féin in
Belfast, led to two days of rioting. The tricolour was immediately replaced, highlighting the difficulty of enforcing the law. s during
twelfth of July celebrations. Despite its original symbolism, in Northern Ireland the tricolour, along with most other markers of either British or Irish identity, has come to be a symbol of division. Thus it is this flag and the Union Flag that are flown by
unionists and
loyalists, while the tricolour is flown by nationalists and republicans.
Kerb-stones in unionist and loyalist areas are often painted red, white and blue, while in nationalist and
republican areas kerb-stones may be painted green, white and orange, although this is a much less frequent occurrence. Elements of both communities fly "their" flag from chimneys, tall buildings and lamp-posts on roads. Under the 1998
Good Friday or Belfast Agreement, it was recognised that flags continue to be a source of disagreement in Northern Ireland. The Agreement stated that: Unionists argue that the recognition of the principle of consent in the Agreement – that Northern Ireland's constitutional status cannot change without a majority favouring it – by the signatories amounts to recognising that the Union Flag is the only legitimate official flag in Northern Ireland. Nationalists maintain that the Agreement means that the use of the Union Flag for official purposes should be restricted, or that the tricolour should be flown alongside the UK's flag on government buildings. However the tricolour is never flown from official buildings, alone or alongside the UK's flag. A
Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast,
Alex Maskey, displayed both flags in his own offices causing some controversy. Some institutions in Great Britain, such as the BBC, have previously and mistakenly used the tricolour to represent Northern Ireland. ==Protocol==