List of flags used in Northern Ireland

List of UK flags
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This is a list of flags used in Northern Ireland.

Official flags[]

Current[]

These are the flags used by the British Government, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Monarch in Northern Ireland.

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	Since 1801	The Union Flag, popularly known as the Union Jack, is used as the flag of the United Kingdom.	A superposition of the flags of England, Scotland, and the St Patrick's Flag of Ireland.
	Since 1837	The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom. It is the banner of Queen Elizabeth II in her capacity as Queen of the United Kingdom.	Split into quadrants, the first and fourth quadrants contain three gold lions passant on a red field (representing England); the second quadrant contains a red lion rampant on a gold field (representing Scotland); the third quadrant contains a gold harp on a blue field (representing Ireland).
	Since 1998	The emblem of the Northern Ireland Assembly.[1]	Six flax flowers with the words "Northern Ireland Assembly" below on a white field.
	Since 1998	The emblem of the Northern Ireland Executive.	Representation of the Giant's Causeway and the words "Northern Ireland Executive" on a white field.
	Since 2001	The flag and ensign of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.[2]	Emblem of the Police Service of Northern Ireland displayed on a dark green field.

Former[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1780s	St. Patrick's Saltire, also known as the Cross of St Patrick, after the patron saint of Ireland. The flag appears within the Union Flag now the official flag of the United Kingdom. It is used by some Unionists, the Church of Ireland and is incorporated into symbols and emblems of various organisations and bodies throughout Ireland.	A red saltire on a white field.
	1780s		A vertical red saltire on a white field.
	1801–1922	Flag of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland	A Union Jack defaced with the Coat of arms of Ireland.
	1922–1973	Personal flag of the Governor of Northern Ireland.	A Union Jack defaced with the Coat of arms of Northern Ireland.
	1924–1953	The Ulster Banner, officially known as the Northern Ireland flag (1924–1953)
	1953–1972	The Ulster Banner, officially known as the Northern Ireland flag,[3] was the flag of the former Government of Northern Ireland. It is used by the unionist community but no longer has any official status,[4] although several sporting organisations such as FIFA,[5] the Commonwealth Games Federation[6] and the PGA Tour[7] and media organisations such as ESPN[8] currently use the flag to represent teams and athletes from Northern Ireland.	A red cross on a white field defaced with the Red Hand of Ulster, crowned on a six pointed white star (representing the six counties in Northern Ireland). Based on the flag of Ulster.
	1929–1973	Ensign of the former Northern Ireland government.	The blue ensign defaced with the letters GNI in the fly. Used on vessels of the Northern Ireland government.

Local government flags[]

Current[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		The flag of the city of Belfast.	Banner of the arms of Belfast City Council.

Former[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		The flag of the city of Derry / Londonderry.	Banner of the arms of Derry City Council.

University flags[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1910–present	Flag of Queen's University Belfast is a heraldic banner that is based on its coat of arms which were granted on 24 March 1910, two years after the establishment of the university. The arms are similar to those used by the Queen's University of Ireland which existed from 1850 to 1879.[9]	The banner is a Saint Patrick's Saltire that features a book, a sea horse, the Red Hand of Ulster, a harp and a British crown. The book stands for the university, the sea horse represents Belfast, the Red Hand is for Ulster, the harp symbolises Ireland and the crown is for the British monarchy. The university's arms are blazoned as: "Per saltire azure and argent, on a saltire gules, between in chief an open book and in base a harp both proper, in dexter a hand couped of the third, and in sinister a sea-horse vert gorged with a mural crown of the fourth, an Imperial crown of the last".

Others[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Ensign of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club.	The blue ensign defaced with the Red Hand of Ulster and St Edward's Crown.
	Since 1264	The Flag of Ulster is used to represent the traditional province of Ulster.	A red cross on a golden field. The arms of the historic province of Ulster is a composite achievement, combining the heraldic symbols of two of that province’s best known families; namely the cross of de Burgo and the dexter hand of O Neill(Ua Néill, later Ó Néill) Kings of Ailech and Tír Eoghan.
	Since 1919	Flag of the Republic of Ireland was originally designed to represent all of Ireland, but is currently only the official flag of the Republic of Ireland. Often seen flying from lampposts and homes in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland.	A Tricolour, with three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white and orange. The Flag is a metaphor for the peace, equality and co-operation (white) between Catholics (green) and Protestants (orange).
	Since 1893	The Sunburst flag is based on the flag of mythological warriors the Fianna. Used by nationalists.	Blue background with an orange sun showing partially in the lower hoist.
	Since 1930s	The starry plough flag succeeded the starry plough banner; the flag used to represent Irish nationalist socialism. Used by socialists, trade unionists and nationalists.	Light blue background and white stars.
		Flag of a proposed independent Ulster nation. Used by Ulster nationalists, although it has now been adopted as an Ulster-Scots flag.	St Patrick's Saltire on a navy blue background, defaced with a golden six pointed star representing the six counties of Northern Ireland containing the red hand of Ulster.
		Flag of the Ulster Volunteer Force. Often seen flying from lampposts and homes in loyalist areas.	Similar to Boyne Standard. Purple background with orange border and English flag in the canton and a UVF emblem in the lower fly. The letters"U.V.F." and "1912" are shown diagonally in the centre of the flag.
		Flag of the Ulster Defence Association. Often seen flying from lampposts and homes in loyalist areas.	Light blue background with red border and UDA emblem on the hoist (left-hand) side and the words "ULSTER DEFENCE ASSOCIATION" on the fly (right-hand) side.
		Flag of the Ulster Freedom Fighters. Often seen flying from lampposts and homes in loyalist areas.	Black background with yellow border and UFF emblem in the centre.
		Flag of the Loyalist Volunteer Force. Often seen flying from lampposts in LVF strongholds such as Ballycraigy.	Black background with white border and LVF emblem in the centre with three of the six counties of Northern Ireland on both sides. Two yellow banner one at the top and one at the bottom, Top banner says "Loyalist Volunteer Force" and bottom says "In defence of our heritage and culture".
		Flag of the Orange Order. Mostly used in relation to the Orange Order and Orange Walks on The Twelfth.	Orange background with a St. George's Cross in the canton and defaced with a purple Williamite five-pointed star in the lower fly.
		The Purple Standard, used by some Orange Order marching groups.	Purple background with a St. George's Cross in the canton and defaced with an orange five-pointed star in the lower fly. Effectively an inverted version of the primary Orange Order flag.
		Flag of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, a Protestant fraternal organisation based in Derry City.	A crimson field.
	1994	"Erne Flag" used on the Shannon–Erne Waterway.	Triband of green, white and blue.
		Flag used by the Ireland national cricket team.	Green shamrocks on a blue field.
		Flag used by the Ireland national hockey team.	Arms of the four provinces combined on a shield, with two stags on the crest and the motto "IRELAND", on a green field.
		Flag used by the Ireland national rugby union team.	The four provincial arms and the IRFU insignia in the centre, on a light green field. NOTE: At Rugby World Cups the team is represented by the Flag of Ireland and the Flag of Ulster.

GAA colours[]

GAA county colours are used to represent Irish counties in the Gaelic Athletic Association's inter-county competitions, most notably the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in Gaelic football and the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in Hurling.

Flag	Use	Description
	Ulster	Gold and black
	County Antrim	Saffron and white
	County Armagh	Orange and white
	County Derry	Red and white
	County Down	Red and black
	County Fermanagh	Green and white
	County Tyrone	White and red

Timeline[]

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	464–1607	Flag of Tyrconnell.
	1542–1801	Flag of Kingdom of Ireland.	Royal Standard.
	1801–1921	Flag of Ireland.	Saint Patrick's Flag.
	1924–1953	First flag of Northern Ireland.	Ulster Banner.
	1953–1972	Second flag of Northern Ireland.	Ulster Banner.
	1998–present	Purported banner of the Northern Ireland Assembly	Emblem of Northern Ireland Assembly.

See also[]

• Flag of Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland flags issue
• List of flags of Ireland
• Cross-border flag for Ireland
• Coat of arms of Northern Ireland

References[]