The Northern Ireland flags issue is one that divides the population along

sectarian Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...

lines. Depending on political allegiance, people identify with differing

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

s and symbols, some of which have, or have had, official status in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Common flags

*The

flag of the United Kingdom The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801, which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in pe ...

, the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

or Union Flag, is the only flag routinely used officially by the sovereign

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, as well as being flown on most council buildings in Northern Ireland. The Union Flag is often flown by unionists but is disliked by

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

. British law states that the Union Flag must be flown on designated days from central government buildings in Northern Ireland. *The

Ulster Banner The Ulster Banner, also unofficially known as the Ulster Flag or Flag of Northern Ireland, is a heraldic banner taken from the former coat of arms of Northern Ireland, consisting of a red cross on a white field, upon which is a crowned six-poi ...

, the flag of the pre-1973

government of Northern Ireland A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, was used from 1953 to 1972 by the Stormont government to represent the government of Northern Ireland. That government was granted a royal warrant to fly the Ulster Banner in 1924, but this expired when the government was dissolved under the

Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 (c. 36) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 18 July 1973. The act abolished the suspended Parliament of Northern Ireland and the post of Governor and mad ...

. It continues to be used by some sports teams representing Northern Ireland internationally, for example by the Northern Ireland football team, and by the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

team. *The

flag of Ireland The national flag of Republic of Ireland, Ireland (), frequently referred to in Ireland as 'the tricolour' () and elsewhere as the Irish tricolour, is a vertical Tricolour (flag), tricolour of green (at the Flag terminology#Description of sta ...

or Irish tricolour is the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

flag of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, disliked by Unionists and is regarded by republicans and nationalists as the flag of all of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. *The

Saint Patrick's Saltire Saint Patrick's Saltire or Saint Patrick's Cross is a red saltire (X-shaped cross) on a white field. In heraldic language, it may be blazoned ''argent, a saltire gules''. Saint Patrick's Flag () is a flag composed of Saint Patrick's Saltire. T ...

represents Northern Ireland indirectly as

in the Union Jack. It is sometimes flown during

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

parades in Northern Ireland, and is used to represent Northern Ireland during some royal events. *Other flags flown by republicans include the Starry Plough, the Sunburst flag and even the flag of the Ulster province.

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

sometimes display the

flag of Scotland The flag of Scotland (; , also known as St Andrew's Cross or the Saltire) is the national flag of Scotland, which consists of a white saltire Defacement (flag), defacing a blue field. The Saltire, rather than the Royal Standard of Scotland, i ...

as a sign of their Scottish ancestry.

Ulster nationalists Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); the remaining three are in the Republic of ...

use the unofficial 'Ulster Nation flag', although it has now been adopted as an Ulster-Scots flag.

Controversies

The Flags and Emblems (Display) Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 prohibited the display of any flag which was "likely to cause a breach of public order", and gave the police powers to deal with it. However, it specifically excluded the

from its provisions. In 1956, the Stormont Minister of Affairs, George Hanna, banned an Irish Nationalist cultural demonstration planned for the annual

Feis A () or () is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival. The plural forms are () and (). The term is commonly used referring to Irish dance competitions and, in Ireland, to immersive teaching courses, specialising in traditional musi ...

Newtownbutler Newtownbutler or Newtown Butler is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the southeast corner of the county, near Lough Erne, the border with County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, and the town of Clones. It is surrounded by ...

, County Fermanagh. The march proceeded anyway, and in response the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

(RUC) launched a

baton charge A baton charge is a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people, usually used by police, paramilitary or military in response to public disorder. In the Indian subcontinent, a long bamboo stick, called a '' lathi'' in Bengali, Hindi, ...

to seize a banner depicting

Patrick Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, Irish poetry, poet, writer, Irish nationalism, nationalist, Irish republicanism, republican political activist a ...

but were unsuccessful. Police attempted a second baton charge which also failed and then resorted to using fire hoses against the crowds. Several people were injured during the disturbances, at least one seriously. The RUC had removed three Irish tricolours from the home of a parish priest during the previous year's Feis. In 1964, the RUC moved in to remove an Irish tricolour from the window of an office in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, after

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and ...

had publicly said that if they did not, he would do so personally. This resulted in serious rioting. The Act was repealed in 1987. In some loyalist areas, the flying of flags supporting loyalist paramilitaries has proved controversial. Groups like the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...

, Young Citizen Volunteers,

Red Hand Commando The Red Hand Commando (RHC) is a small secretive Ulster loyalism#Paramilitary and vigilante groups, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland that is closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Its aim was to combat Irish r ...

, and

Loyalist Volunteer Force The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright (loyalist), Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) a ...

all have their own unique flags and although these flags usually appear alongside murals, they can occasionally be seen flying from lampposts in villages and towns or flying from houses in the run-up to

the Twelfth The Twelfth (also called Orangemens' Day) is a primarily Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It began in the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant King William of Ora ...

. After the 1998

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

, flags continue to be a source of disagreement in Northern Ireland. The Agreement states that: Some local councils have debated the usage of the Tricolour. In 2002

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council () is the Local government in Northern Ireland, local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district c ...

displayed the Tricolour along with the Union Flag in the Lord Mayor's parlour during the term of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

Lord Mayor Alex Maskey. A different approach was taken in 1997; when the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

's (SDLP)

Alban Maginness Alban Maginness (born 9 July 1950) is a Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2016. Early life and education Maginness was born ...

was

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

, neither flag was displayed. In September 2003, Belfast City Council discussed flying the Tricolour alongside the Union Flag on designated occasions. In June 2007 the designated nationalist

complained about an artist's rendering of

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

that included both the

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

and the

flag as two of the three flags in front of the store. After being labelled "an upmarket Orange hall" by the party, IKEA assured customers and co-workers that only the Swedish flag would be seen outside the actual store. The Ulster Banner continued to be used by some local governments, such as the predominantly unionist Castlereagh, which flew it outside its offices. A decision in December 2012 to fly the Union flag over

Belfast City Hall Belfast City Hall (; Ulster-Scots: ) is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre. It is a Grad ...

only on certain designated days, instead of all the year round as previously, led to the Belfast City Hall flag protests, which included riots in which police officers were injured. The Northern Ireland flags controversy has led to

Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

being unable to release an equivalent country

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...

for Northern Ireland, as it has for Scotland, England, and Wales.

Flag proposals

1995 Northern Ireland Office proposals

In 1995, the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...

discussed the possibility of a new distinct flag for Northern Ireland. Two designs by Dr. Martin J. Ball of

Ulster University Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

were considered, but no flag was ultimately adopted. Proposed flag of Northern Ireland (1995) - 1.svg, Proposed flag of Northern Ireland (1995) - 2.svg,

2003 Alliance Party proposals

In 2003, the

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland ...

proposed that a new flag should be adopted to represent all communities in Northern Ireland. Suggestions included a blue

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

flower on a white field, a gold map of Northern Ireland on a dark blue field and a representation of the

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway () is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...

. Alliance Northern Ireland flag.svg, 2003 flag proposal by the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

2009 Eddie Izzard proposal

In 2009,

Eddie Izzard Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...

ran a series of marathons across the United Kingdom to raise money for

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

. When running in England, Scotland and Wales, Izzard carried the respective flag of that nation. For Northern Ireland, however, Izzard carried a self-created flag consisting of a green field (invoking the colour of the Northern Ireland football jersey) and a white dove (symbolising peace) in the upper fly, flying eastwards and carrying an olive branch in its beak. Eddie Izzard's flag for Northern Ireland.svg, Eddie Izzard's flag for the Home Nations.svg, The dove flag as part of a combined Home Nations flag, which was carried by Izzard in the Sport Relief Mile event in London on 21 March 2010.

2013 Haass talks

In 2013, US diplomat Richard Haass chaired talks between the political parties in Northern Ireland dealing with, among other things, the issue of flags. The resulting draft proposals, which were not agreed to by the parties, included the idea of a new flag for Northern Ireland, and the possibility of a "circumscribed role for the sovereign flag of Ireland in conjunction with the Union flag."

2021 proposed "Civic Flag"

In December 2021, the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition (FICT) published its final report which included a recommendation that a new "Civic Flag for Northern Ireland" should be adopted and be flown at buildings of the Northern Ireland Executive, Northern Ireland Assembly and local district councils in Northern Ireland. The commissions suggested that the design for the new flag should incorporate expressions of Britishness and Irishness and should also represent the diversity of the community in Northern Ireland. The working group on flags, identity, culture and tradition last met in January 2022, prior to the collapse of the power sharing executive the following month. In November 2024, the Executive Office said that the Commission's report will be "considered as part of a review of its community relations strategy".

2024 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council proposal

In November 2024, the

Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council Northern Ireland has competed in nineteen of the twenty-one Commonwealth Games beginning with the second games, held in 1934. Northern Ireland did not compete in 1930 (when there was a single team from Ireland) and in 1950. It differs from the Oly ...

(NICGC) discussed the possibility of using its own flag at the Commonwealth Games if a new "Civic Flag" proposed by the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Traditions is not in place before the

2026 Commonwealth Games The 2026 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XXIII Commonwealth Games and Glasgow 2026 (; ), is a planned multi-sport event scheduled from 23 July to 2 August 2026, to be hosted in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, for members ...

. The NICGC was subsequently forced to close its offices for security reasons after receiving threats from Loyalist paramilitary groups. File:CGCNI logo.png, Flag of the

: the palm and thumb form the letters NI = Northern Ireland

References

External links

Symbols in Northern Ireland - Flags Used in the Region
by Dara Mulhern and Martin Melaugh; illustrated article from CAIN Project (Conflict Archive on the INternet) {{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Ireland Flags Issue

Issue Issue or issues may refer to: Publishing * ''Issue'' (company), a mobile publishing company * ''Issue'' (magazine), a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine * Issue (postal service), a stamp or a series of stamps released to the public * '' ...

Flag controversies Sectarianism