National Flag of Northern Ireland

by Yoshihide Danjoh
(Musashino, Tokyo, Japan)

The national flag of Northern Ireland has a very interesting shape. In addition to the red St. George's Cross and crown, there's a red right hand in the center of a white six-pointed star, which represents the six counties that make up Northern Ireland.

The red cross and the crown symbolize the sense of belonging to the U.K. and the red right hand is based on a legend of Northern Ireland.

The legend is that a general said, "The first right hand in the enemy's territory would be rewarded the territory." After hearing the story, a man named O'Neill chopped off his right hand and threw it out toward the enemy's territory.

The national flag of Northern Ireland is based on this anecdote. I thought it was very interesting to know the origin of Northern Ireland's national flag.

Thanks for reading!