The Secret History Behind Ireland's Flag

Ireland's flag was made by French women and carries a message of peace.

In 1848, Thomas Francis Meagher and William Smith O'Brien returned from France with a green, white and orange tricolour given to them by French women who sympathized with the Irish cause. It was flown publicly for the first time on March 7, 1848, in Waterford. Meagher explained that the white between the orange and the green stood for a lasting truce, and for the hope that Irish Protestants and Catholics could clasp hands in brotherhood.

The tricolour flew over Dublin in the 1916 Rising and became the flag of the new state in 1922; the 1937 Constitution formally recognized it as the flag of Ireland.

The date printed on every Ireland design in our catalog, December 6, 1922, is the day the Irish Free State came into existence.

Three colors, and the white in the middle is the whole idea.

See the Ireland Emerald Isle Tee → · Browse the North Europe collection → — or explore the story behind any other country's flag on our free Flag Story Cards page.