Lower coast gazette., 1914-07-11
lRHAND'S MANY FLAGS
COUNTRY HAS HAD NUMEROUS
EMeLEMs OF SOVEREIGNTY.
Harp, Deemed by Most People as Typ
Ica,,y Irish, Was Really Imposed
Upon the Country by a"
English King.

What flag shall Ireland fly? Thls
ia a question that Is again oeihs uis'
cussed, writes a London correspond
ent of the New York Sun.
probably no country has had more
national flags than Ireland, so tnat u
old.time flags range Of choice is by no
means restricted. The most ancient
without doubt, is the Spear and Ser
nent." said to commemorate the cur
Ing by Moses Of an ancestor OF Mile
sius who had, been bitten by a snake.
Then there is the golden sunours'
upon q blue ground, emblem OF from
MacCumhalls Fenian (militia). Blue
was always 1reland's national color
until 1898, when the United lrlshmeh,
to signify the blending of north anu
south evolved a national color OF tne
blue formed by the amalgamatlon Oh
HUE and orange-namely, green.
Another flag Is that which Crom-
wells soldiers are reputed to nave
seen when fighting the Kernes, a req
cross upon a golden ground. Opinions
"A to whether such was ever a ma
tional emblem or not are DIVIDED
many people believing it to have oeen
the arms of an insurgent commander
The three golden crowns upon a
blue ground is another emblem winch
has not been overlooked. The resign
appears today in the arms OF Mum
ster. and the three crowns are salt
to typify the triple kingdoms OF ORES
mond Thomond and Ormond. ANY
a this flag was the emblem Of Ire
and from ITO to 1547. when Henr!
VIII of England substituted the mari
for the three crowns, the reason DE
ing that Henry was anxious that IN
three crowns should not be confuse,
with the triple tiara Of the pope VIII
whom, at this juncture, Henry Wa
not on the best of terms.
Thus it comes about that the harl
which is deemed as ~typically lrlsi
was imposed upon Ireland by an EN-
lish king; but had not the Unite
freshmen, although they decrowne
the harp in 1898, adopted 1t as the
emblem. and Grattan's parliamel
recognized the harp, although the
did not like the green ground II
J, hardly likely that the average IT'S
3 man today would regard 1t as otn'
: than an upstart burgee.
i. Still another national device to
' considered Is the Lamb Lea
3 Eirinn." the Red Hand Of lrelan
K which, upon a white ground, W,
t borne by Shane and Hugh OMEN
armies that defeated Queen Eli
9 beth's generals.
The early hours Of the nineteen
century saw Ireland inflicted with t
+. st. Patrick's Cross, a red satire up
q a white ground. What st. Patri
had to do with it nobody car cay. .
some emblem or the other had
to be incorporated in the British q
upon the passing Of the act OF uni'
and so the heralds did the re
: Wherever they got the red satire IT.
It is not known, but there
reason to believe that 1t was .
rowed from the. arms of Trinity {
:. lege, Dublin, which had in turn .
rowed 1t from the Fitzgerald lam
~. In all probability Ireland '
adopt the sunburst upon "a 0
!. ground, the chief reason being It's
tiquity, its distinctly Irish origin,
its symbolism Of Ireland rising
take her proper place among the
IA tons.
But come what may, the gro
OF the new flag Is going to be D
The Sim Peiners are resolved u
that, and that the flags material 8
not be silk or cotton, but good i
"a linen.