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Irish Republic flag 1916 large

The flag of the 'Irish Republic' proclaimed by rebels in a section of the Irish Volunteers, in the Easter Rising on Easter Week 1916. Though the flag later identified with the rebellion is the Irish tricolour (green, white and orange), the actual rebellion flag was a green flag with the words 'Irish Republic' in orange, with white shadowing, written on it. It was the tricolour that came to be used subsequently in the battle for independence.

The rising itself had every little public support and was the work of a minority with the Irish Volunteers planning to hold a rebellion, who were a minority in the Irish Volunteers, and in turn a minority within the broad volunteer movement. Public opinion was overwhelmingly hostile (rebels needed protection from British soldiers who had arrested them when angry crowds of Dubliners tried to attack them). Catastrophic mishandling by the British military of the aftermath, including the execution of its leaders, caused a backlash against the British. Across 1917 the party wrongly identified as associated with the rising, but which had then been taken over by rising survivors lead by Eamon de Valera, Sinn Féin, and the previous dominant Irish Parliamentary Party, fought a series of by-elections, with neither definitively coming out on top. The decision by the British government in early 1918 to try to impose conscription into the British army in Ireland (as it was running out of troops for the first world war) backfired catastrophically, destroyed the Irish Parliamentary Party, and ensured a comprehensive win for Sinn Féin in the 1918 general election. The MPs elected for Sinn Féin, using 'TD' rather than MP, assembled in Dublin and proclaimed themselves a parliament and declared an Irish Republic. That republic (also not recognised internationally) opted not to use this flag for their republic, but instead to use the more recognisable green, white and orange tricolour. The green flag with the words 'Irish Republic' in orange with white shadowing, would not be used again.

I am adding this in as part of a series of historic no longer used flags from the period 1900 to 1970 I am creating for those who like to create cities set in the 20th century. Some earlier flags have also been added.