Today was a day full of history lessons. I took our class on the scenic route to the Dublin Castle, intentionally. On our way we passed Grattan and Millennium bridge. We arrived early and spent half an hour exploring the Dubh Linn garden, a lovely piece of heaven. In the Dublin Castle our guide chaperoned us around and showed us the rooms, portraits, and symbols while also telling stories. At the top of the stairs he showed us the official national emblem of the Republic of Ireland, a gold harp on a blue background.
Ireland’s association with the color blue is probably related to its colonial history, probably because there are many other stories about why blue. Flaitheas Éireann, the Irish sovereignty, wore blue. The crest for the Kingdom of Meath, medieval kingdom of Ireland, showed the image of a ruler sitting on a green throne with a blue background. This inspired Constance Markievicz to use the light blue as the background for the ‘Starry Plough’ flag of the Irish Citizen Army when it was created in 1913, which is still associated with Irish socialism. Blue was first seen when Ireland was turned into a Kingdom in 1542 under the reign of King Henry VIII. When Ireland was considered a new Kingdom, in 1542 under King Henry VIII, Ireland got to make its own coat of arms, a gold harp on a blue background. Also, King George III created a new order of chivalry for the Kingdom of Ireland and needed a color to go with it. Since the Order of the Garter, for the previous Kingdom of England, already used a dark blue, light blue was used for the Order of St Patrick. This shade of blue became known as ‘St Patrick’s Blue’, which is used for the Dublin Gaelic Athletic Association county teams and UCDublin sports teams uniforms.
The harp portrayed is the same as the Guinness harp but turned the other way. Guinness trademarked the harp symbol in 1876, the Irish Free State Government created the emblem in 1922 so they had to turn the harp the other way to differentiate between the trademarked Guinness harp and the official state emblem. The Guinness harp has its straight edge on the left, and the government has its straight edge to the right. The harp is based on a famous 14th century Irish harp known as the “O’Neill” or “Brian Boru” harp, which can be seen in the Long Room of Trinity College Dublin.
Ireland’s association with the color blue is probably related to its colonial history, probably because there are many other stories about why blue. Flaitheas Éireann, the Irish sovereignty, wore blue. The crest for the Kingdom of Meath, medieval kingdom of Ireland, showed the image of a ruler sitting on a green throne with a blue background. This inspired Constance Markievicz to use the light blue as the background for the ‘Starry Plough’ flag of the Irish Citizen Army when it was created in 1913, which is still associated with Irish socialism. Blue was first seen when Ireland was turned into a Kingdom in 1542 under the reign of King Henry VIII. When Ireland was considered a new Kingdom, in 1542 under King Henry VIII, Ireland got to make its own coat of arms, a gold harp on a blue background. Also, King George III created a new order of chivalry for the Kingdom of Ireland and needed a color to go with it. Since the Order of the Garter, for the previous Kingdom of England, already used a dark blue, light blue was used for the Order of St Patrick. This shade of blue became known as ‘St Patrick’s Blue’, which is used for the Dublin Gaelic Athletic Association county teams and UCDublin sports teams uniforms.
The harp portrayed is the same as the Guinness harp but turned the other way. Guinness trademarked the harp symbol in 1876, the Irish Free State Government created the emblem in 1922 so they had to turn the harp the other way to differentiate between the trademarked Guinness harp and the official state emblem. The Guinness harp has its straight edge on the left, and the government has its straight edge to the right. The harp is based on a famous 14th century Irish harp known as the “O’Neill” or “Brian Boru” harp, which can be seen in the Long Room of Trinity College Dublin.