List of flags used in Northern Ireland

List of British flags
English flags
Northern Irish flags
Scottish flags
Welsh flags
Royal Standards

This is a list of flags used in Northern Ireland.

Official flags

Current

These are the flags used by the British Government 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. It is flown by the unionist community.	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).

Former

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	??	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 the UFC, 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.
	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.
	1953–1972	The Ulster Banner, officially known as the Northern Ireland flag,[1] was the flag of the former Government of Northern Ireland. It is used by the unionist community but no longer has any official status,[2] although several sporting organisations such as FIFA,[3] the Commonwealth Games Federation[4] and the PGA Tour[5] and media organisations such as ESPN[6] 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. Used on vessels of the Northern Ireland government.

Local government flags

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

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 1780s	St Patrick's Saltire, also known as the Cross of St Patrick, represents Saint Patrick; the patron saint of Ireland. It was a flag used to represent all of Ireland as a component of the UK, and accordingly appears as part of the Union Flag. It is used by some unionists, the Church of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis and is incorporated into symbols and emblems of various organisations and bodies throughout Ireland.	A red saltire on a white field.
	Since 1919	Flag 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 bottom right corner.
	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 right-hand corner. 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 left-hand side and the words "ULSTER DEFENCE ASSOCIATION" on the 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".

GAA county 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	County	Description
	County Antrim	Saffron and white
	County Armagh	Orange and white
	County Down	Red and black
	County Fermanagh	Green and white
	County Derry	Red and white
	County Tyrone	White and red

See also

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

References

1. McCartney, Clem (1994). Clashing Symbols?: A Report on the Use of Flags, Anthems and Other National Symbols in Northern Ireland. Queen's University of Belfast. p. 2. The flag of the Government of Northern Ireland is often called 'the Ulster flag', but we have called it by its official name, the 'Northern Ireland flag'.
2. So you think you know the Northern Ireland flag?
3. "Northern Ireland at FIFA.com". FIFA. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
4. "Northern Ireland at the CGF". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
5. PGATOUR.com – Rory McIlroy's Official Profile
6. "ESPN.com - GOLF - Darren Clarke - Player Card". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 2007-11-28.