The People’s Flag: James Duignan on pride, respect and our identity

President of the Association of Community & Comprehensive Schools James Duignan

On behalf of the Association of Community & Comprehensive Schools, I am delighted to lend our support and thanks to all involved in the Thomas F. Meagher Foundation for the important work that they do in fostering a richer understanding of the history and meaning of the Irish Tricolour among our young people and our school communities all over Ireland.

Over the centuries, the flag has developed many special uses. From identifying friend from foe on the battlefield and high seas to symbolising a bond between a race of people. The flag, although a simple piece of cloth or silk, has come to represent the good and the bad of people and places.

The Irish Tricolour, first flown by Thomas Francis Meagher in Waterford in 1848, has come to represent all that is, can, and should be of the Irish people and state. It embodies the spirit of Irish kindness and understanding in its colours, while also acting as a rallying call to Irish people all over the world.

Flag day allows new generations to discover and experience the practical and emblematic nature of the Tricolour, an important part of living in an age of so many global distractions. Patrick Pearse’s famous quote, “Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam” expresses the importance of the Irish language to Irish nationality. Equally, the flag in modern times had come to command such importance, Tír gan bhratach, tir gan féiniúlacht, (A country without a flag is a country without an identity)