The gold background features a red cross comes from the coat of arms of the Burkes, a Hiberno-Norman noble family.

The arms of the historic province of Ulster is a composite achievement, combining the heraldic symbols of the cross of de Burgh and the red hand motif of the Irish over-kingdom of Ulaid, which later became associated with the O'Neills whose first use of it is dated to the mid-14th century.

When Walter de Burgh, Lord of Connacht, became Earl of Ulster in 1243, the de Burgh cross became inseparably linked with the Hiberno-Norman Earldom of Ulster, which spanned over a third of the north of Ireland.

The seal of his son, Richard, for example, appended to a deed dated 1282, shows the heraldic cross in triplicate together with what may well be a portrait head of the Earl himself.

At some point, the Red Hand motif was appended to the de Burgh cross, the result eventually coming to represent the entire province.