Guinness had trademarked the harp symbol in 1876, and the Irish free state government of 1922 wanted to use the symbol they had to turn the harp the other way round. I was going to include this in the above points but found it quite fascinating.
The oldest harp ever found was in 1929, and it is about 4500 years old, it was found in “Ur( more details here)”.The verb harp means to talk on and on about one subject similar to a harpist plucking the same string over and over. The word Harpa was first used around the year 600 A.D and is a generic term for stringed instruments.This older flag was first flown by Irish rebel leader Owen Roe O’Neill in 1642. Before the Irish flag you know today, we flew a green flag with a harp on it.
- The current design is based on the ‘Brian Boru harp’ of the 14th Century, which can be found in the museum of Trinity Colleges in the heart of Dublin.
- Ireland is the only country in the world with a musical instrument as its national symbol.
- Some things you might not know about the Irish harp:
- On hundreds of thousands of peoples bodies – in the form of Irish harp tattoos and Irish jewellery.
- As a logo for many prominent state-supported organisations such as the National University of Ireland.
- The flag of Leinster (but not the national flag).
- The Presidential Seal and on many official documents.
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When I mentioned earlier that the Irish harp was one of the most recognised Irish symbols I wasn’t joking. The national emblem of Ireland, the Harp is one of today’s most widely recognised Irish symbols apart from the Shamrock.Įvery time I do one of these articles I see 100’s of tattoo ideas but the Irish harp is by far one of the most popular.īut what is the history behind the Irish harp? Let’s get into it. The Irish harp has been an article I have been looking forward to writing on my list of ancient Celtic symbols.