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The national flag of the Ireland, also known as the tricolour, is a vertical tricolour of green (at the hoist), white, and orange. The flag proportion is 1:2 (length twice the width). The green is representative of the older Gaelic tradition while the orange represents the supporters of William of Orange. The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the two cultures.
First introduced by Thomas Francis Meagher in 1848, it was not until the Easter Rising of 1916, when it was raised above the General Post Office in Dublin, that the tricolour came to be regarded as the national flag[citation needed]. The flag was adopted in 1919 by the Irish Republic during its war of independence, and subsequently by the Irish Free State (1922–1937), later being given constitutional status under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, which established the Republic. The tricolour is regarded by many nationalists as the national flag of the whole of island of Ireland. Thus it is flown (often controversially) by many nationalists in Northern Ireland as well as by the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Historically the island has been represented by a number of other flags, including Saint Patrick's cross, and the flag of the four provinces of Ireland.
The flag's colours are the vertical opposite of the shorter flag of Côte d'Ivoire.