Saint Patrick's Saltire

The saltire has occasionally served unofficially to represent Northern Ireland and also appears in some royal events.

[5] An early possible mention of a Saint Patrick's flag is from the journal of John Glanville, writing about the Anglo-Dutch fleet that sailed to Cádiz, Spain, in 1625.

Lord Delaware deposed in writing to the Lieutenant General about his simple foretop (white, red or blue) precedence flags to be flown: ...That this was an Englishe and not an Irishe action, and the colours contended for the fflagg of St George and not of St Patericke [alluding to whatever the Viscount Valentia was flying], which hee intimated to himselfe being a Baron of England much auntient to my Lord Cromwell (whoe alsoe is a Baron of that Realme) to bee more proper and worthie to carry then anie Irish Viscount...[6]The Order of Saint Patrick, an Anglo-Irish chivalric order, was created in 1783.

together with the date 1783, being the year in which our said Order was founded, and encircling the Cross of St Patrick Gules, surmounted with a Trefoil Vert each of its leaves charged with an Imperial Crown Or upon a field of Argent.

A February 1783 newspaper complained that "the breasts of Irishmen were to be decorated by the bloody Cross of St Andrew, and not that of the tutelar Saint of their natural isle".

[8] An open letter to Lord Temple, to whom the design of the Order of St Patrick's badges were entrusted, echoes this and elaborates: The Cross generally used on St Patrick's day, by Irishmen, is the Cross pattée, which is small in the centre, and so goes on widening to the ends, which are very broad; this is not recorded as the Irish Cross, but has custom for time immemorial for its support, which is generally allowed as sufficient authority for any similar institution ... As bearing the arms of another person is reckoned very disgraceful by the laws of honour, how much more so is it, in an order which ought to carry honour to the highest pitch, to take a cross for its emblem, which has been acknowledged for many ages as the property of an order in another country?

[8][disputed – discuss]Many subsequent commentators believed that the saltire was simply taken from the arms of the FitzGeralds (or "Geraldines"), who were Dukes of Leinster.

[9] William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster was the premier peer in the Irish House of Lords and a founder member of the Order of Saint Patrick.

[11] A variety of sources show saltires in use earlier than 1783 in Ireland and in an Irish context, although there is no suggestion that they are linked to St Patrick.

The Flag Institute states that arms derive from those of the powerful FitzGerald dynasty (or "Geraldines"), who were Earls of Kildare (and later Dukes of Leinster).

The design on the reverse of some Irish coins (groat and half-groat) minted c. 1480 includes two shields with saltires.

[3] English and German picture maps of the Battle of Kinsale of 1601–02 show the combined Irish–Spanish forces under a red saltire.

[17] Contemporary reports of the ensigns of the Irish Catholic Confederation during the Eleven Years' War say that each had a canton with a red saltire on a gold field.

[21] The flag used by the King's Own Regiment in the Kingdom of Ireland, established in 1653, was a red saltire on a "taffey" yellow field.

[22] At the funeral of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, Ireland was represented by a red cross (not saltire) on a yellow field.

[3] A red saltire on green appears on the flag of Berwick's regiment in the Irish Brigade of the French army.

[citation needed] Several atlases and flag books in the late 17th and 18th centuries show a red-saltire–on–white flag for Ireland, including Paulus van der Dussen's (c. 1690)[26] and Le Neptune françois, a marine atlas published in Amsterdam in 1693, where it is depicted with the legends Ierse above and Irlandois below, which are Dutch and French for "Irish".

Crosses in various shapes and colours were worn as badges on St Patrick's Day from the 17th to the early 20th century.

[citation needed] The most widespread use of St Patrick's Saltire today is in the Flag of the United Kingdom.

[citation needed] The Royal Dublin Society's flag, dating from c. 1902 – c. 1912, has a red saltire, but its significance is unknown.

[40][41] The badge of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, designed by John Vinycomb, incorporates the saltire and the arms of the four provinces.

[44] The arms were granted by Arthur Vicars in 1901, based on a 1612 seal showing uncoloured cross and saltire flags.

[54] The Church of Ireland diocese of Connor's arms, granted in 1945,[55] include Saint Patrick's Saltire in memory of his supposed enslavement at Slemish.

In 1986, government policy during state visits to London was to fly the crosses of Saints George, Andrew and Patrick and the Welsh Dragon.

[64] The all-island bodies for men's and ladies' bowls compete internationally under the Saint Patrick's flag.

[69] In Great Britain, Saint Patrick's Flag was flown in place of the Irish tricolour at the 2009 parade in Croydon, prompting complaints from some councillors.

[70] It was flown on some years on Patrick's Day by Bradford City Council,[71] which subsequently reverted to flying the Irish tricolour.

[72] A writer in The Irish Volunteer complained that The O'Rahilly should have known the saltire was "faked for Union Jack purposes".

[74] This militant group incorporated right-wing, conservative and some former-unionist elements in opposition to the then left-wing republican Fianna Fáil party.

In the system of International maritime signal flags, a red saltire on a white background denotes the letter V and the message "I require assistance".