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Saint Patrick's Saltire or Saint Patrick's Cross is a red saltire (X-shaped cross) on a white field, used to represent the island of Ireland or Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. In heraldic language, it may be blazoned ''Argent, a saltire gules''. Saint Patrick's Flag is a flag composed of Saint Patrick's Saltire. The red saltire's association with Saint Patrick dates from the 1780s, when the Order of Saint Patrick adopted it as an emblem. This was a British chivalric order established in 1783 by George III. There is some evidence that a similar saltire was occasionally used to represent Ireland before this. It is often suggested that it derives from the arms of the powerful Geraldine or FitzGerald dynasty.〔Hayes-McCoy, p. 38〕 Most Irish nationalists reject its use to represent Ireland as a "British invention".〔 After its adoption by the Order of Saint Patrick, it began to be used by other institutions. When the 1800 Act of Union joined the Kingdom of Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain, the saltire was added to the British flag to form the Union Flag still used by the United Kingdom. The saltire has occasionally served unofficially to represent Northern Ireland and been considered less contentious than other flags flown there. ==Origins== The origins of Saint Patrick's saltire are unclear. The first recorded mention of a Saint Patrick's flag is from the journal of John Glanville, writing about the Anglo-Dutch fleet that sailed to Cadiz, Spain, in 1625. In it Glanville remarks: "That this was an and not an action, and the colours contended for the of St George and not of St , which intimated to himselfe being a Baron of England much auntient to my Lord Cromwell (whoe alsoe is a Baron of that Realme) to bee more proper and worthie to carry then anie Irish Viscount whatsoever". The Order of Saint Patrick, an Anglo-Irish chivalric order, was created in 1783. The order was a means of rewarding those in high office who supported the Anglo-Irish government of Ireland.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Order of St Patrick )〕 On its badge was a red saltire on a white background, which it called the "Cross of St Patrick": The use of a saltire in association with St Patrick was controversial because it differed from the usual crosses by custom worn on St Patrick's Day. In particular, the previous crosses associated with Saint Patrick were not X-shaped. Some contemporary responses to the badge of the order complained that an X-shaped cross was the Cross of St Andrew, patron of Scotland. A February 1783 newspaper complained that "the breasts of Irishmen were to be decorated by the bloody Cross of St Andrew, and not that of the tutelar Saint of their natural isle".〔 Another article claimed that "the Cross of St Andrew the Scotch saint is to honour the Irish order of St Patrick, by being inserted within the star of the order ... a manifest insult to common sense and to national propriety".〔 An open letter to Lord Temple, to whom the design of the Order of St Patrick's badges were entrusted, echoes this and elaborates: Many subsequent commentators have believed that the saltire was simply taken from the arms of the FitzGeralds (or "Geraldines"), who were Dukes of Leinster.〔 The Dukes of Leinster dominated the political and social scene of 18th century Dublin, from their ducal palace of Leinster House (later to become the seat of the Irish parliament and senate, the Oireachtas). William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster was the premier peer in the Irish House of Lords and a founder member of the Order of Saint Patrick. On the other hand, Michael Casey suggests that Lord Temple, pressed for time, had based the Order's insignia on those of the Order of the Garter, and simply rotated its St George's Cross 45 degrees. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saint Patrick's Saltire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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