YES - there is an Irish flag with a harp called the Green Flag - the Harp on the flag and the Guiness Harp is the Harp of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland.
Article 7 of "Bunreacht na hEireann" ( constitution of Ireland) states "The National Flag is the Tricolour of Green, White and Orange." This flag didn't come into general usage until the war of independance (1919-1921). Prior to this, the green flag with gold harp was the main symbol of nationalism. Indeed this flag flew over the G.P.O during the 1916 Rising. There have been many prior attempts to initiate a national flag. Green and Orange horizontal stripes had been used by some as early as the 18th century. But only at the creation of the first "Dail" ( House of Representatives / Commons) did the current Tricolour become widely used.
The Society of United Irishmen, a republican movement which emerged in the 1790s, used a gold harp on a green field (the 'Green Flag'). This flag was carried in the rebellions of 1798 and 1803 and it quickly achieved popular acceptance as the national flag.
The flag was used during the widespread peaceful agitations for 'Repeal' of the act of union in the 1830s and 1840s but was viewed as a seditious emblem by the British authorities. In 1848 the Repeal movement split and the radical wing (known as 'Young Ireland') adopted both republican ideas and a tricolour inspired by that of the second French republic. The Young Ireland rebellion of 1848 was quite a small affair and the tricolour flag was largely forgotten until the twentieth century.
The next revolutionary movement, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (or 'Fenians') of the 1860s, was much more formidable and it reverted to using the Green Flag. That flag was also used by all the nationalist politicians who campaigned for 'Home Rule' (devolved government within the United Kingdom). By about 1880 or so the Green Flag had become officially tolerated to the extent that one was no longer likely to be arrested for displaying it, but it never had any official status and was always seen as a nationalist emblem.
Kathy, web master of Ireland Now http://irelandnow.com
Slashdot Mirror
YES - there is an Irish flag with a harp called the Green Flag - the Harp on the flag and the Guiness Harp is the Harp of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland. Article 7 of "Bunreacht na hEireann" ( constitution of Ireland) states "The National Flag is the Tricolour of Green, White and Orange." This flag didn't come into general usage until the war of independance (1919-1921). Prior to this, the green flag with gold harp was the main symbol of nationalism. Indeed this flag flew over the G.P.O during the 1916 Rising. There have been many prior attempts to initiate a national flag. Green and Orange horizontal stripes had been used by some as early as the 18th century. But only at the creation of the first "Dail" ( House of Representatives / Commons) did the current Tricolour become widely used. The Society of United Irishmen, a republican movement which emerged in the 1790s, used a gold harp on a green field (the 'Green Flag'). This flag was carried in the rebellions of 1798 and 1803 and it quickly achieved popular acceptance as the national flag. The flag was used during the widespread peaceful agitations for 'Repeal' of the act of union in the 1830s and 1840s but was viewed as a seditious emblem by the British authorities. In 1848 the Repeal movement split and the radical wing (known as 'Young Ireland') adopted both republican ideas and a tricolour inspired by that of the second French republic. The Young Ireland rebellion of 1848 was quite a small affair and the tricolour flag was largely forgotten until the twentieth century. The next revolutionary movement, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (or 'Fenians') of the 1860s, was much more formidable and it reverted to using the Green Flag. That flag was also used by all the nationalist politicians who campaigned for 'Home Rule' (devolved government within the United Kingdom). By about 1880 or so the Green Flag had become officially tolerated to the extent that one was no longer likely to be arrested for displaying it, but it never had any official status and was always seen as a nationalist emblem. Kathy, web master of Ireland Now http://irelandnow.com