Across most sports Ireland competes as one country, both north and south, despite having two separate jurisdictions. However, while they may all wear jerseys of various shades of green there is no unified flag to represent our teams and athletes; when they compete on the international stage each organisation has their own flag. This design proposes to replace all those with a single flag that would be used exclusively in a sporting context.

The flag draws on the history and people of the island using shared symbols that are internationally recognised: the colours green and orange, the shamrock and the Celtic cross. This is meant as a banner for all fans to wave in support of our teams and athletes when they take to the international sporting arena. It’s a symbolic standard of shared imagery specifically for sporting and maybe cultural occasions.

It is not intended to be political in any way. Nor is it intended to replace any current flag, least of all the tricolour. In fact it’s intended to complement the tricolour and can be used alongside it without contradiction. It is a sporting flag.

So when one of our players crashes over for a try, lands a knockout punch or takes a wicket; there is now a dedicated sporting banner all supporters can hold high and wave enthusiastically.