Ireland’s national flag was conceived almost two centuries ago as a symbol of an inclusive and democratic republic. Those ideals have proved durable and supple enough to represent the free, independent State of today.
Like any long-standing emblem, the Tricolour has carried different meanings at different moments. For some, its deployment at sporting events is an affront to the dignity of the flag; for others, such exuberant displays are joyous expressions of belonging. During the Troubles, the green, white and orange became uncomfortably entwined with paramilitarism. On the streets of Northern Ireland, it often signalled territorial possession and sectarian division. One of the quiet achievements of the last three decades has been the restoration of the flag to its rightful status as a unifying symbol. That has not prevented some from continuing to use it for partisan purposes.
That makes its current misuse all the more troubling. In recent weeks, Dublin has witnessed a proliferation of flags erected not in celebration but in confrontation. The phenomenon echoes a similar campaign across English cities this summer, a trend dubbed “Ulsterisation” for its appropriation of flags as markers of exclusion and hostility. The irony hardly needs pointing out.
Defenders of these displays claim bafflement at any objection. They present the phenomenon as a simple assertion of patriotism: our flag, on our streets. But the pretence is wafer-thin. These banners are intended to advance a pinched and aggressive nativism, to signal who belongs and who does not. In spirit they are intolerant, exclusionary and anti-democratic. In other words, they invert the very values the Tricolour was created to represent.
RM Block
What should be done? Dublin City Council has said it is considering its options. A heavy-handed response risks granting the perpetrators the publicity they crave. But inaction cedes ground to a politics that thrives on intimidation. The State need not dignify such tactics with overreaction, but neither should it allow the national flag to be co-opted by those who would weaponise it.
