Last modified: 2009-05-24 by rob raeside
Keywords: ireland | ulster | donegal | derry | tyrone | fermanagh | antrim | down | armagh | monaghan | cavan | hand (red) |
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The flags in popular use are based on the colours of the county teams in Gaelic football and hurling - the most popular spectator sports. As these flags are entirely unofficial, the designs vary: one sees the colours arranged as horizontal stripes, quarters, lozenges, etc., but vertical stripes are the most common. These flags have outgrown their sporting origins and are now widely used on festive occasions, flown alongside the European Union, national and provincial flags at shopping centres, hotels, etc. However, in the six counties that constitute Northern Ireland, use of the county colours is confined to nationalist areas - the counties in Northern Ireland have been abolished for administrative purposes and the sports from which the county colours derive are not generally supported by unionists.
Antrim* | Aontroim | saffron and white |
Armagh* | Ard Mhacha | orange and white |
Cavan | An Cabhán | blue and white |
Derry (Londonderry)* | Doire | red and white |
Donegal | Dún na nGall (Tír Chonaill) | green and gold |
Down* | An Dún | red and black |
Fermanagh* | Fear Manach | green and white |
Monaghan | Muineachán | white and blue |
Tyrone* | Tír Eoghain | white and red |
* indicates a county in Northern Ireland
Vincent Morley, 4 December 1996