The Netflow
- The life and times of a SysAdmin in Dublin...
Flags… and Ireland
Probably a bit of a strange post here but it has always been one of the things that annoyed me so much over the years. It has become apparent to me that very very few Irish people have any idea how to properly fly their nations flag. Or any nations flag for that matter.
There are the obvious things like leaving the flag up all night, improper care when moving it from place to place and allowing it to become so hilariously dirty that you barely make out the colours. Another really annoying misuse of the flag revolves around flying the flag at half mast. This is especially important and slightly ironic as it is used often as a mark of respect.
Firstly, flying the flag at half mast does not actually mean half way down the flag pole. The only times the flag should be at that height should be when it is being raised or lowered. Apparently very few people know this as nearly every time I see a flag being lowered as a mark of respect it has nearly always been about half way down the pole. In fact I can only remember twice seing the flag being flown correctly in two places - The Army HQ at the Phoenix Park, Dublin and at one of the court buildings in Dublin city centre.
The correct why to fly a flag at half mast is to lower it the depth of the flag from the top of the pole. This is half mast.
It should alwasy be raised fully before being lowered to half mast, and should always be fully raised before being lowered at the end of the day. It always amazes me that in a country like ours where everyone likes to appear very patriotic, how little attention is paid to our national flag. If in fact you want to learn more, the protocol section of the department of the Taoiseach has an excellent guide which goes into a bit more detail about the exact colours that should be used, etc. which you can read from here (PDF).
Just as an aside, another annoyance of mine is the way people refer to the Union flag as the Union Jack. I know I shouldn’t really care, becuase they’re not talking about my flag but still. The Union Flag is only called the Union Jack when its on a ship. This is basically becuase it is flown on the Jack mast of the ship.
So there you go. Weird huh.
About Dan O'Neill
As well as principle writer here on TheNetflow, I am also the owner and lead developer over at 26 Squared. Having worked around the IT industry and the web for almost 10 years, I use this site as mostly my personal vehicle for sharing what I can.
Not weird at all. A very interesting post, actually, at least in my opinion.
And I agree fully with everything you wrote. As a former naval officer, who began his career as a signals officer (before moving on to executive and command duties), I do know a thing or two about flags and their proper use.
Like yourself I am also often annoyed and even offended when I see people using our national flag in incorrect or inappropriate ways. One thing you haven’t mentioned in your post is the frequently seen abuse of An Bhratach Náisiúnta as a backdrop for various messages and even advertisement.
There must be thousands of our national flag around the country which have been disfigured by inscriptions, often with the names of Football teams or other sports clubs. They are regularly shown by so-called ‘fans’ at many sports venues, but it appears that no-one does anything about it. This I find even worse than a dirty or worn-out flag.
And some years ago the Guinness brewery – of all people – handed out thousands of small national flags for promotional purposes, with the word ‘Guinness’ printed on the lower part of the white middle section.
I made a formal complaint about this to the Dept. of the Taoiseach, with a copy of it sent to Aras an Uachtarán. But I did not even receive a reply from either.
As much as I love this country and the Irish nation, one has to acknowledge that – sadly – the vast majority of our people are very poorly educated, ignorant and not at all concerned with the nation they belong to.
There is no national pride, no real feeling for the things that matter, and also no true Irish identity. What we have is a hotch-potch of British and American culture, which sometimes gets a little lick of green paint.
Over the years I have lived in various countries abroad, and visited even more for short periods of time. I could not think of any other country that is so ignorant and disinterested in tradition, national heritage and national symbols than Ireland.
Our more than 90 national monuments are seen mainly as tourist attractions, almost all our leading politicians leave the country each years on the national day (this happens in no other country in the world!) and the way Ireland is portrayed to the rest of the world is at best ignorant and silly, and at worst criminal.
So one should not really be surprised that most of our people have no idea what our flag means and how it should be treated, handled and displayed.
P.S. I happen to have a life-long interest in vexillology, and if you like to share some more thoughts on this or communicate on other matters, feel free to send me an e-mail. (You find the address on the profile page of my weblog.)
First off, Thanks for the comment.
Secondly, It’s good to know that I’m not on my own about our flag. Its something that I have a great interest in, mostly passed down from my father who, although not born in the republic and very proud of his heritage, has a great respect for the Irish flag.
I also agree with your point on using the flag in advertising purposes. Especially in such a crude fashion. More should have been made of it at the time.
Thanks for stopping by, I shall definietly be adding your blog to my list of reading material!
Me hangs my head in shame for not knowing the definition of half mast…
Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion. If more of us used your line of thinking, the world would be a better place.
Can you please tell me what the procedure is for flying the Irish flag at night
Hi Martin,
Technically its not supposed to be flown at night. Lots of places do, however, fly it at night with extra lighting around for aesthetic reasons, and more places fly it at night out of laziness or just not knowing any better. Look at the various Superquinn stores around the country. The one in Naas is the dirtiest flag I’ve ever seen and it stays up at all times.
Thanks,
Dan
Thanks Dan I knew there was something about flying it at night but could not find any info on it
No problem Martin – Thanks for dropping by. There are some other exceptions to when flags can be flown at night.
One example is the American Flag at the Iwo Jima memorial in Washington DC. By presidential order that flag is flown day and night as a memorial. They do change the flag every month though to prevent any visual defects.
But mostly, the flag is to be taken down at night.