The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1916-09-15
FLAGS or IRELAND
Only Since 1893 Has Green Been
the National Color.
BEFORE THEN 1T WAS BLUE.

That Was the Color Of Fionn Mac.
CumhaiIl's Standard, Which Is Said
to Be the True Flag of Ern-The
Ancient "Spear and Serpent"
The universal belief concerning the
flag Of Ireland is that it has always
been "the harp without the crown" i'm
posed on field Of green and that
green has from time immemorial been
Erins color
| venture TO say that ninety out OF
every hundred persons will assert, in
answer to a query, that the harp on
green background has constituted Ire
lands national design these many cen.
turies, this belief obtaining generally
among the Irish themselves.
In opposition to this belief 1t viii an
pear strange when the asseveration Is
made that Ireand's national color un-
ill something more than a century ago
was blue
1t may indeed produce a bit Of q
shock to many who have been welded
to the notion that the Emerald isle.
the shamrock so greer" our green
isle beyond the sea" and other similar
expressions were mdi~solubly ana for
ever connected with the country's ma
tlonal colors.
But as a matter Of fact the green
flag made its first appearance in 1898,
the year Of the uprising. so that as
flags go it is comparatively new.
Green you know is blend Of the or.
angea and the blue, and il is asserted
that green was adopted in l79S by the
United Irishmen to trfUy the union Of
north and south, orange being the
color affected in the northern part Of
Ireland ana blue in the southern prov
inces
In point Of antiquity the real irish
flag IS the spear ana serpent" which
appears in the arms Of the O'Sulwans
1t is said to commemorate the incident
Of Gaodhal GlaS, the am estor of Mile
sius, who, tradition says, was cured OF
a snake bite by the rod Of Moses.
Next TO that comes the flag of Fionn
MacCumhailfs militia, the golden sun
set on blue ground, and the weight Of
opinion among all Irish students of re
search seems to favor this as the true
national hag Indeed blue was always
Irelands national color until l79S
Quite a number Of other flags have
figured in IRISH s,oIy, and each of
them has its line of enthusiastic sup
porters. Not the least popular among
these is the flag exhibiting three golden
crowns imposed on n blue ground
which figures a the present day I'm the
arms Of the province of Munster
This flag was accepted after the Nor
man invasion in the year ITO as the
ensign OF Ireland the three crowns
representing the kingdoms of Desmond,
0rmond and Thomond II was retained
until 1917 when Henry VIII abolished
it and substituted the harp
Coming down 10 more recent times it
is found that the parliament of ireland.
of which Henry Grattan was the head
did not recognize green. although 1t did
accept the harp That parliaments flag
was golden harp on a blue ground
At the time Of the union with Eng
land IN lSo1a ncw flag was evolved ap
parently for the express purpose of in
cooperating It with what is now known
as the union jack, but it does not seem
to have caught the popular fancy any
more than the act Of union.
This was the red satire on a white
ground which was christened st. Pat
rick's cross. Apparently it was taken
from the arms of Trinity college at
/ DubliD th0uoE how Duhlfu came nv it