The flag of the

Irish province There have been four Provinces of Ireland: Connacht (Connaught), Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. The Irish word for this territorial division, , meaning "fifth part", suggests that there were once five, and at times Meath has been considered ...

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

is a banner with the provincial

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

: a gold Irish harp with silver strings on a green field (

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visua ...

: '' vert a harp or stringed

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions t ...

''). These arms are similar to the

arms of Ireland ) , supporters = , compartment = , motto = , orders = , other_elements = , earlier_versions = , use = The harp is used on all Acts of Oireachtas; the seal of the President; the cover of Iri ...

, which have the same device on a field of blue rather than green. The arms (''Vert, a Harp Or, stringed Argent'') is believed to have likely evolved from the arms of Ireland itself with a change of tincture.

History

Possibly the oldest Irish instance of the use of the harp device on a green field was the flag of Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill ( Owen Roe O'Neill). Owen Roe, nephew of Aodh ( Hugh O'Neill), had entered the Spanish service after his uncle's defeat at Kinsale in 1601. Owen rose to prominence in the Spanish army, and in 1642 returned to Ireland to assist the Irish Confederation in the war that broke out the previous year. It is recorded that his ship, the St Francis, as she lay at anchor at Dunkirk, flew from her mast top "the Irish harp in a green field, in a flag". Because the confederation's headquarters were located in Kilkenny – the principal city of Leinster "without

the pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast s ...

" – his flag may have had a special significance for that province. The Confederation seal also incorporated, among a number of other motifs, a representation of the Irish harp. When Eoghan Ruadh died in 1649 the hopes of the Irish Confederation died with him. The early 17th century arms of the vice-admirals of Ireland seem to have incorporated the arms of the respective provinces. Thus, the arms of Leinster were, at least in that period, ''Azure three crescents, two and one, or.''

Present forms and uses

The flag is used by the

Leinster GAA The Leinster Council is a provincial council of the Gaelic Athletic Association sports of hurling, Gaelic football, camogie, rounders and handball in the province of Leinster. The Leinster Council has been partnered with the European Count ...

and its representative teams. It was formerly used by the Leinster rugby team, which now has a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

ed design crest incorporating elements of it. The flag or arms are often displayed alongside or combined with those of the other provinces to represent the whole island of Ireland. File:Four Provinces Flag.svg, Four Provinces Flag of Ireland File:IRFU flag.svg, Ireland Rugby Union Flag File:Flag_of_Ireland_hockey_team.svg, Flag of the Irish Hockey Team

History

Present forms and uses

References

See also