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President of Ireland's standard

President of Ireland's standard by jimtduffy. The Standard of the President of Ireland was adopted in 1945. It was based on the traditional Irish flag. Contrary to myth, the ancient colour on flags representing Ireland was not green, but St Patrick's Blue. The harp because a formal symbol of Ireland under King Henry VIII. It was used by both the English/British governments running Ireland and after the independence of the twenty-six county Irish Free State by independent Ireland. The type of harp, however changed, with a historic harp called the Brian Boru harp, held in Trinity College Dublin, used as a national symbol. Flags under British rule used a different style of harp. The British Royal Standard still contains the British version of the Irish harp, on a St Patrick's Blue background - reflecting the fact that part of the island of Ireland, its north-east portion,remains a part of the United Kingdom.

As independent Ireland now uses a green, white and orange tricolour first created in the mid 19th century as its flag, the more ancient harp on St Patrick's Blue was resurrected to become the presidential standard.