Madam, - I agree with James McGeever (June 18th) that the Tricolour needs to be more fully understood. My concern with the historical account given in the official Government booklet is that the Tricolour briefly appears in 1848 and then is little used until it dramatically reappears in 1916. What this narrative ignores is perhaps the richest use of tricolours for political ends in these islands between 1907 and 1914. The tricolours I am referring to are those associated with the suffrage movement.
The dominant tricolour from this period was the purple, white and green flag of the Women's Social and Political Union. These colours rapidly spread across the land through mass rallies and demonstrations. They appeared on banners, shop displays, posters, pottery and badges.
As the movement splintered over issues to do with militancy and hunger strikes, new tricolours emerged, such as that adopted by Charlotte Despard's Women's Freedom League. It was green, white and gold. Soon there were more suffrage associations with flags of purple white and red as well as blue, white and gold.
The suffragette tricolour was a highly visible and successful rallying symbol in the fight for universal suffrage. Green was to symbolise youth or regeneration, white was for purity and purple for loyalty or courage. If we accept Countess Markievicz's claim that the Rising brought together three great movements - nationalism, socialism and feminism - then I believe a clear argument can be made for the genealogy of the Irish Tricolour in the suffragette flag.
What I feel is most important about the suffragette tricolour is that it is a flag over no territory, nation or ethnic group, but a flag of liberation for all people, a symbol of hope and struggle for the oppressed. - Yours, etc,
BRIAN HAND,
Ballymurphy,
Borris,
Co Carlow.
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Madam, - According to some accounts, the 1848 Tricolour was, from the flagstaff, orange, white and green (like today's Ivory Coast flag).
The first person to have his coffin draped with the Tricolour was probably James Stephens, the founder of the IRB, who died in 1901.
While the 1937 Constitution made the green, white and orange flag official, nationalists in Northern Ireland - and, for some reason, followers of soccer in the South - waved a green, white and gold or a green, white and yellow flag until about 20 years ago.
The lack of agreement about the third colour on the flag can't be ascribed to the manufacturers.
Lines of doggerel such as, "Green, white and yella, Kathleen caught a little fella", or, "They fought for Ireland, the green, white and gold" reflected confusion or denial about the "fourth green field".
During the 1970s and most of the 1980s, anyone displaying a national flag except on a public building or in a sports ground would be subject to suspicion as a supporter of the IRA. We can thank Jack Charlton, Ray Houghton, Packie Bonner and their comrades - and especially the "world's greatest fans" - for giving us back Thomas Francis Meagher's flag. - Yours, etc,
DENIS FAHEY,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.