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St Patrick’s Day Flags – Irish Flags, Shamrock & Bunting
Everything for 17 March: the Irish tricolour in 20x12in to 8ft x 5ft, the shamrock flag, St Patrick’s cross, Happy St Patrick’s Day flags, Ireland bunting up to 20m and hand flags by the pack for the parade in Birmingham, London, Manchester, Liverpool or Glasgow. For the tricolour and the 32 county flags all year round see the Irish flags hub.
Ireland Flagfrom £6.99-
Ireland Flag
Choose size →6 sizes · 3 qualities · 3 fittingsThe price depends on the options chosen on the product pagefromAs low as £6.98
Ireland in every format
See all Ireland flags →St Patrick’s Day, 17 March
St Patrick’s Day is the feast of the fifth-century Romano-British missionary who became the patron saint of Ireland, kept on 17 March, the traditional date of his death in 461. It has been a religious holiday in Ireland since the 1600s and a public one since 1903, but the parade is an emigrant invention: the first St Patrick’s Day parades were held in the American colonies in the 1700s, and the British ones grew up where Irish communities settled, in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and London. The shamrock comes from the story of Patrick using its three leaves to explain the Trinity, the green from the colour of the shamrock and of Irish nationalism since the 1790s, and the whole day now runs on green bunting, tricolours, hand flags and a pint of something black.
The parades in Britain
Birmingham’s parade through Digbeth on the Sunday nearest the 17th is the third largest in the world after Dublin and New York, with floats, pipe bands, GAA clubs and county associations under their county flags. London holds a festival and parade from Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square, Manchester runs an Irish Festival for a fortnight with a parade from the Irish World Heritage Centre, Liverpool parades from the Pier Head, Glasgow and Coatbridge have their own, and Leeds, Nottingham, Luton and Hull fill the gaps. Every Irish pub, GAA club, Irish centre, parish and primary school in between wants a tricolour over the door, bunting along the bar and a box of hand flags for the children, and the Irish flags hub has the county flags for the marchers from Mayo, Cork, Kerry and Donegal.
Tricolour, shamrock and the cross of St Patrick
The Ireland flag is the green, white and orange tricolour first flown by Thomas Francis Meagher in Waterford in 1848, green for the Gaelic tradition, orange for the followers of William of Orange and white for the peace between them; it is stocked in 20x12in, 3ft x 2ft, 5ft x 3ft, 8ft x 5ft and the 2-yard size in Flagtex, Flagtex Nylon or DuraFlag. The shamrock flag puts a single green shamrock on white, the flag for a school, a pub or anyone who wants the day without the politics. The St Patrick’s Cross flag, a red saltire on white, is the one that was added to the Union Jack in 1801 and is used by some all-Ireland organisations and churches. The Happy St Patrick’s Day flags in black, white and beer-glass versions are the pub-window flags, and the Ireland Smiley Face, grunge and football flags are for the party and the match.
St Patrick’s Day bunting
Ireland bunting carries the tricolour on every pennant in 3m, 5m, 9m, 12m and 20m rectangle lengths, a triangle cut for a tea party or a school hall, and a giant 18.25m length with oversized pennants for a high street or a parade route. Shamrock bunting comes in 3m, 9m and giant 18.25m, Happy St Patrick’s Day bunting in black or white in 3m and 9m, and St Patrick’s Cross bunting in 3m and 9m. A 9m length runs the length of a bar; mix tricolour and shamrock lengths along a street for a run that reads as Irish from one end to the other.
Hand flags, car flags and table flags
Ireland hand flags and shamrock hand flags on wooden sticks come in 9x6in and 18x12in and are sold in packs for schools, GAA clubs and parade floats, with St Patrick’s Cross and Happy St Patrick’s Day hand flags alongside. The Ireland car flag clips to a window for the drive to the parade, the Ireland windsock suits a campsite or a boat, and the Ireland table flag with base is the 6x4in flag for the bar, the restaurant table or the parish dinner, with St Patrick’s Cross and Happy St Patrick’s Day table flags to match.
St Patrick’s Day flag FAQs
When is St Patrick’s Day?
17 March every year, the traditional date of St Patrick’s death in 461. Most UK parades take place on the nearest Sunday, so check the city’s date and order the week before.
Which flag do I fly for St Patrick’s Day?
The Irish tricolour is the usual choice for pubs, clubs and parades. The shamrock flag suits schools, shops and anyone who wants a non-political flag, and the St Patrick’s Cross is used by some churches and all-Ireland bodies.
What is the St Patrick’s Cross?
A red diagonal cross, or saltire, on white. It was taken as the symbol of Ireland when the Union Jack was redesigned in 1801 and is the red diagonal you can still see in the Union flag today.
Why is green the colour of St Patrick’s Day?
Green is the colour of the shamrock St Patrick is said to have used to explain the Trinity, and it became the colour of Irish nationalism from the 1790s onwards. The saint’s own colour was historically a shade of blue.
How much bunting do I need for a pub?
A 9m length covers a typical bar front or a window run; a 20m length crosses a beer garden. For a street party allow three 20m lengths or a giant 18.25m length across the road.
Do you sell the Irish county flags for the parade?
Yes, all 32 counties in their GAA colours are in the Irish flags hub as full-size flags, hand flags and bunting, and most are in stock all year.
How late can I order for St Patrick’s Day?
All the flags, bunting and hand flags on this page are stocked in and dispatched from our Stoke-on-Trent warehouse. Order before 2pm and it leaves the same day for free 1–2 day UK delivery, so a Thursday order is there for the weekend parade.