The Use of Flags during the 1916 Rising

In the midst of the first world war, a small group Irish revolutionaries fought to raise their own banners rather than fight under the Union Jack. The Easter Rising of 1916 is very much seen in Irish history as the beginning of modern Ireland surrounded by the ideals of self-determinism and free Irish statehood. Beginning April 24th 1916 and lasting five days, factions of cooperating Irishmen and Irishwomen, specifically the free-stater Irish Republican Brotherhood (or IRB), the armed Irish Volunteers and the armed, socialist-leaning Irish Citizen Army (or ICA) rose to take down Britain’s banner and replace them with their own emblems.

The emblems of the Irish nationalists have become iconic and integral to the identity of Ireland. The main flags integral to the events of 1916 that will be discussed at length are as follows: the Irish Tricolour, the Irish Republic Flag, the Starry Plough Flag, the Green Harp Flag, and the Union Jack. On the first day of the rising, most of the mentioned flags replaced the Union Jack at various locations throughout Dublin where the uprising was taking place. To summarize, the Irish Tricolour and the Irish Republic Flag flew over the IRB and ICA headquarters at the seized Dublin General Post Office at the center of the city, and the Starry Plough flew across from the post office at the Imperial Hotel, the Green Harp Flag flew over the headquarters of the ICA prior to the rising, Liberty Hall, yet, throughout the rising, British Union Jacks waved over the fortress-like Trinity College. The ideologies behind these flags are discussed in the section on the flags of the 1916 Rising, but a visual depicting the physical locations of the flags can be found below:

Underpinning the entire rising, the notion behind a free Ireland motivated the normal citizens turned soldiers to fight in the rising. Statehood, in most instances, is accompanied by a flag of some kind, a visual indicator for the nation’s people (and enemies) to associate with mentally, for better or for worse. This is why the actual act of taking down an imposing country’s flag only to hang one’s own true flag is so poignant. Flags embody nationalism and offer a visual reminder of what those who see themselves as oppressed are fighting for.

However, flags, like any other symbols, inevitably change their meanings or message depending on who is flying them. The messages flags convey change with the times, and what may have been the message behind the flags in 1916 may differ from the messages in the future, whether it be to legitimize a tangent ideology or actually represent the motives behind the rising. Even the flags used in 1916 may depart from the original meaning presented at the flag’s inception.