Ulster Banner

The Ulster Banner was the flag of the Government of Northern Ireland, and de facto flag of Northern Ireland, from 1953 to 1972. It was based on its earlier coat of arms. The Northern Ireland Government was abolished in 1972 and, since then, the flag has had no official standing. It has become a symbol of Ulster loyalism and a contentious symbol.

Origin

The flag is a heraldic banner taken from the coat of arms of Northern Ireland, which were granted in 1924. This is based on the flag of England and the flag of Ulster, with the addition of a crown to represent the monarchy of the United Kingdom. As with the flag of Ulster it contains the Red Hand of Ulster at the centre. Rather than a shield, the Red Hand is inside a six pointed star, representing the six counties that make up Northern Ireland.

The flag is also sometimes called the Ulster flag,Northern Ireland flag, the (old) Stormont flag, or the Red Hand of Ulster flag. Loyalists often use 'Ulster' as another name for Northern Ireland, and Stormont was the seat of Northern Ireland's Government.

Ulster

Ulster (/ˈʌlstər/; Irish: Ulaidh pronounced [ˈul̪ˠəi] or Cúige Uladh pronounced [ˈkuːɟə ˈul̪ˠə], Ulster Scots: Ulstèr or Ulster) is a province in the north of the island of Ireland. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths (Irish: cúige) ruled by a rí ruirech, or "king of over-kings".

The definition of the province was fluid from early to medieval times. It took a definitive shape in the reign of King James I of England when all the counties of Ireland were eventually shired. This process of evolving conquest had been under way since the Norman invasion of Ireland, particularly as advanced by the Cambro-Norman magnates Hugh de Lacy and John de Courcy. Ulster was a central topic role in the parliamentary debates that eventually resulted in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Under the terms of the Act, Ireland was divided into two territories, Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland, with the border passing through the province. "Southern Ireland" was to be all of Ireland except for "the parliamentary counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone, and the parliamentary boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry [the city of Derry]" which were to constitute "Northern Ireland". The area of Northern Ireland was seen as the maximum area within which Ulster Protestants/unionists could be expected to have a safe majority, despite counties Fermanagh and Tyrone having slight Roman Catholic/Irish nationalist majorities. While these six counties and two parliamentary boroughs were all in the province of Ulster, three other counties of the province – Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan – were assigned to the Irish Free State.