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The following article is by Brian Lake (brian.lake@brianlake.ca)...

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A Brief History of the Newfoundland & Irish tricolours

Newfoundland and Ireland have much in common. There is a strong Celtic culture in Newfoundland, and we have our own proud history as an independent state. Newfoundland was granted "Representative Government" as a British North American colony in 1832. As with the other North American colonies (such as Canada) this system was not particularly successful. Part of the problem stemmed from the unique circumstances of Newfoundland society and politics:

The Narrows & Signal Hill, St.John's

Given the nature of the colonial constitution granted to Newfoundland, and the privileged position of the Established Church of England, members of other denominations, particularly Roman Catholics (who overwhelmingly in the 1830s were Irish), were excluded from having any influence. As a result, the House of Assembly came to reflect the grievances of the colony. Patronage was controlled by the governor, who showed favoritism to Anglicans and Congregationalists, while excluding Wesleyan Methodists and Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholic bishop, Michael Fleming, had been recruited to come to Newfoundland from Ireland. When he arrived he became upset with the deliberately inferior position in which many Newfoundlanders had been put by the Colonial system. Wesleyans and Roman Catholics were compelled to pay marriage and burial taxes to the Church of England Parson. Additionally, Roman Catholics were obliged to take insulting oaths if they were to be members of the governor's council, which excluded them from membership. (source: Dr. John FitzGerald, St. John's, Newfoundland,)

The struggle between religious denominations is reminiscent of the Irish struggle for independence, and of the divide that exists in Northern Ireland today. The Newfoundland Natives' Society, founded on 15 June 1840, was in many ways a response to these appalling social inequities. Its purpose is described in the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador:

Its main purpose was to promote the interests of native-born Newfoundlanders (the word native in this context does not mean aborigine) in a colony that was beginning to acquire a sense of local identity but was still dominated by an immigrant bourgeoisie whose actions were, in part, motivated by religious and racial Anglo-Irish hatred imported from the British Isles. (source: http://enl.cuff.com/entry/62/6232.htm)

The goal of the Natives' Society was to fan the flames of Newfoundland nationalism. Religious affiliation was not a barrier to entry, provided the member was considered a resident of the island - as opposed to recent immigrants. There was no love lost for new immigrants, especially those of power and influence. One of the goals of the Natives society was to secure a place for the local residents, and prevent immigrants from dominating government and politics.

In our 21st century context, the Natives' Society could be judged harshly as a quasi-racist organisation (After all, shouting "foreigners go home" is hardly the height of tolerance). In an 18th century context, it is important to remember that although in the British Empire everyone was considered an equal subject of the Queen, some were considered more equal that others. An active disdain for native Newfoundlanders and their generally poor level of education was not uncommon. John Valentine Nugent, an Irish immigrant with intellectual aspirations, referred derisively to ``copper-coloured natives in their native woods'' during a particularly heated St. John's by-election. Although he later denied saying it, he had succeeded in hitting on a sore spot. Certainly, there was no shortage of animosity between the two sides. (source: http://enl.cuff.com/entry/62/6232.htm)

Dr. Edward Kielley, a St. John's-born Catholic who became the first President of the Society, said that he had thought of the idea of such an organization in 1836, "because strangers had been sucking the vitals of the country," while the native-born, "who were often obliged to seek to better their condition by resorting to other Countries,'' had been treated "as an unworthy race, and as intruders in their native land.'' (source: http://enl.cuff.com/entry/62/6232.htm)

The Protestant newspaper editor and proprietor R.J. Parsons, born in Harbour Grace, noted in the Newfoundland Patriot of September 22, 1840, that the formation of the Newfoundland Natives' Society was the "fulfillment of a wish contemplated for years.'' On September 12, Parsons gave a heartfelt speech at the first meeting of the Society, in front of a crowd of 200-300 at John Ryan's fish store in St. John's:

"This night we proclaim ourselves a people -- we proclaim our nationality, and we shall fail to do our duty, if henceforth we do not make that nationality to be respected." (source: http://enl.cuff.com/entry/62/6232.htm)

At the meeting a motto ("Union and Philanthropy'') and a flag were displayed. The complex flag bore an elaborate device around which was a wreath "composed of the rose, thistle and shamrock, denoting the stock from whence the Newfoundlander derives his origin." Newfoundlander is a title reserved for the native born, in use since as early as 1765. The title predates the title of Canadian by 102 years, if one is to refer to the creation of the Canadian Federation in 1867. Indeed, many Newfoundlanders retain this distinction of race or nationality, in much the same way as residents of Quebec. This is hardly uncommon - France has its Corsicans, Spain their Catalonians, Britain its Scottish and English.

The Society's purposes, included "cooperating with the peaceable, orderly, respectable and well-disposed inhabitants of this Island,'' as well as promoting the interests of "our fellow countrymen." Most members were composed of the middle class, made up of merchants and professional men. Many were Irish-Catholic in descent, but there was a fairly diverse cross-section of Newfoundland society.

The common history of the Newfoundland and Irish Tricolours

Newfoundland's Tricolour Flag.

The Newfoundland tricolour

It is from the Native society - albeit indirectly - that Newfoundland gained it's Tricolour flag - the pink, white and green.

The "Pink, White and Green" flag originated in 1843 in St. John's, Newfoundland. It is the oldest flag in continuous use of any of the former jurisdictions of what was British North America. Only the Union Flag of Britain (1801) has been in use longer. The Newfoundland tricolor is the only flag in the world to include the colour pink.

Pink represents the Tudor Rose of England, White the Cross of St. Andrew of Scotland and Green the Shamrock of Ireland.

The origins of the flag are diverse. The original flag of the Newfoundland Native Society was a pink flag, with two clasped hands extending to the elbows and a spruce tree in the centre. (See http://www.wordplay.com/newfoundland/intro.html) The tree rose from the joined palms and the word "Philanthropy" ran underneath the arms. Pink was perhaps a poor choice. The Tudor Rose of England was never a real rose, but instead an artistic and political emblem intended to disguise the rather dubious royal lineage of the Tudors.The Tudor Rose superimposed the Yorkist White Rose upon the Lancastrian Red. It is for this reason that the pink flag was strongly associated with the English Protestant community in Newfoundland both prior to and following the creation of the Natives' Society. Having none of that, Irish Catholic immigrants began flying a green banner with the Celtic harp of Brian Boru in the centre. (see: http://www.irishclans.com/flags/green.html).

This sectarian division grew at an inopportune time. The members of the relatively new Representative Government took advantage of the animosity between the two groups to build their popularity. Tension would reach alarmingly high levels during the annual wood hauls of the 1840s. The wood hauls were a means of keeping the large number of fishermen busy and out of mischief while they waited for their ships to take them to the icefields. Unfortunately this did not work out quite as expected.

The volunteer work of the wood hauls was to supply wood for charitable organisations, schools and the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals. The two groups, numbering up to 10,000 sealers, would mark their wood piles with their flags. The hauls became events of religious rivalry, often degenerating into fistfights over who had the largest haul. (source: O'Neill, Paul. "Around and About" The Monitor July 1976. pp. 11-12) The newspapers of the era reflected the degree to which these disturbances concerned much of the public. They also allow us to approximate the date of these incidents. (Relevant newspapers from the period are listed at: http://www.cla.ca/marketplace/microfilm.pdf.) The Newfoundlander [1827-1882] likely contains an account allowing us to establish a more accurate date for the conflicts, as well as the Public Ledger and Newfoundland General Advertiser [1827-1882].

Dr. Paul O'Neill of Memorial University has done the most exhaustive research into the response to these events:

To avoid further bloodshed, Dr. William Carson, the Speaker of the House, is credited with having suggested that his great friend, Dr. Fleming, should be enlisted in the role of peacemaker. Bishop Spencer, who was about to leave for Jamaica, felt an answer to the problem lay in trying to unite the warring factions rather than preach sermons at them. He gave the project his blessing and a delegation representing the government along with leaders of the English and Irish communities called at Dr. Fleming on his residence on Henry Street. (source: O'Neill, Paul. "Around and About" The Monitor July 1976. pp. 11-12)

In an attempt to defuse the conflicts, a delegation representing the government and leaders of both communities sought the council of the Catholic Bishop Fleming, who was respected by all. Tradition has it that after pondering the problem, the bishop asked that the pink flag and the green flag of the two factions be brought to him. Commenting on his great respect for Carson, he joined the two flags with a white handkerchief, which he said represented the white of peace from the flag of St. Andrew. He handed it to the assembled group and said, "Go in Peace."
(source: http://fraser.cc/FlagsCan/Provinces/Newfoundland.html)

Bishop Spencer was in the process of leaving for his post for Jamaica as he entered the fray. The Bahamas was made an Archdeaconry by the Bishop of Jamaica (Rt. Rev'd Aubrey Spencer) in 1844. (source: http://www.stgeorgebah.org/History_d.htm) With a sealing season taking place in March, and the ice breaking up in April and May, this means that the bishop was likely on hand to lend his voice in 1843, or 1844 at the latest.

Thus was born the pink, white and green tricolour of Newfoundland, a flag which quickly gained prominent social and commercial and governmental use throughout the island. It was flown on all government buildings during the visit of the Prince of Wales to St. John's in 1860. On 19th century flag charts it is shown as the flag of Newfoundland.

At the turn of the 20th century it was flown at Government house by two British Governors. Sir Herbert Harley Murray from 1895-1898 and Sir Cavendish Boyle from 1901-1904. In June 1896 the newly formed police force and fire departments adapted it as their official banner. It was used by Newfoundland Prime Minister Sir Robert Bond during his election campaign, who served from 1900-1909.

It is said that the Newfoundland native, Captain Bob Bartlett, who accompanied Admiral Peary on his ultimate polar expedition in 1909, planted the pink, white and green within a few miles of the North Pole. (Source: "Crew of the Invermore say Capt. Bob Bartlett was within six miles of North pole and planted the pink, white and green there." The Daily News, (St. John's, September 16, 1909).

The tricolour flag was a symbol of revolution throughout the world at the time of its creation, which perhaps explains why it was not adopted as the official flag of independent Newfoundland. The red ensign designed by Adelaide Lane, the niece of Sir Cavendish Boyle, had been adopted as an official flag instead. (see O'Neill, Paul. "Around and About" The Monitor July 1976. pp. 11-12) It was also a nationalist symbol in the struggle for Responsible Government and those opposed to confederation with Canada. This possibly explains why, despite its popularity, it was not adopted as the official flag in 1980. In its place, a new design reminiscent of the British Union-Jack was adopted. Nevertheless, the green white and pink remains the traditional and unofficial flag of Newfoundland. It flies prominently throughout the province.

Ireland's Tricolour Flag.

The Irish tricolour

As stated in Article 7 of the Constitution of Ireland:

An bhratach trí dhath .i. uaine, bán, agus flannbhuí, an suaitheantas náisiúnta.
(Irish text: http://www.irlgov.ie/taoiseach/publication/constitution/irish/stat.htm)

The national flag is the tricolour of green, white and orange.
(English text: http://www.irlgov.ie/taoiseach/publication/constitution/english/state.htm)

The green stripe represents those of native Irish descent, the orange stripe represents the descendants of 17th-century British colonists, and the white stripe represents the hope for peace between the two groups. Thomas Francis Meagher introduced the flag for the first time at a meeting organised by the Young Ireland movement on 7 March, 1848 in his native city of Waterford. He had finished his studies at the Jesuit colleges of Clongowes Wood College in Kildare and Stonyhurst in Lancashire in 1843 at 20 years of age. Presumably he spent the next five years in his home town of Waterford (see http://members.tripod.com/waterfordhistory/recollections_of_waterford.htm). As he described the flag in a speech:

The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between the 'Orange' and the 'Green', and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of the Irish Protestant and the Irish Catholic may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood. (Source: http://www.irishclans.com/flags/tricolor.html)

The Green Flag was used by the contemporary supporters of Daniel O'Connell, but the Young Irelanders were republicans and required a distinctive emblem which would clearly express their republicanism. The design is thus thought to be modeled on the flag of the French Republic - an argument which would make sense given the similar design and the resurrection of the French tricolor at about that time, as well as Meagher's role as one of three delegates appointed to present an address of congratulations to the French Republican Government in 1848. There are reasons to doubt this origin as exclusive however.

One such reason stems from the work done by Dermot Power, an Irish historian. Power established the 7 March 1848 date. This represented a push back of five weeks in the history of the tricolour from a Dublin meeting on April 15, 1848. Of greater importance was the fact that Meagher informed that Waterford meeting that the flag was being displayed for the first time. No such claim was made at the Dublin meeting. Meager's speechs indicate that it was a unique creation, not a revival of another flag. (source: http://www.fotw.ca/flags/ie.html#his & Irish television network RTÉ 1 report March 8, 1998)

A second possible influence on the development of the Irish tricolour is available through a look at the Meagher family history. Thomas Francis Meagher is credited with the creation of the first Irish tricolour. Given his family history and his family ties to the Newfoundland tricolour, it is likely he saw the Newfoundland tricolor flying on ships in his home port of Waterford long before he left for France.

The Meagher Family and the Newfoundland Tricolour Connection

John Mannion has done some of the most extensive work on the connections between Waterford, Ireland and St. John's, Newfoundland. Thomas F. Meagher III, who introduced the Irish flag in 1848, was the son of Thomas Meagher Jr, a Native Newfoundlander. This connection begins with Thomas F. Meagher's grandfather.

Thomas Meagher was born in 1764 near Ninemilehouse in southeast Tipperary, near the port of Waterford. Waterford had been a site of migration to Newfoundland since the beginnings of the 18th century. Meagher moved to St. John's in the 1780s, a town of about 1,200 at the time with a large migratory population of about 650 during the summer fishery. Unlike other Irish servants migrating to Newfoundland, Meagher apprenticed to an Irish tailor. He apparently did well in this role, marrying the widow of his former master, Mary Crotty and succeeding to a well-established premises and a trade at a young age. His son, Thomas Jr. was born in 1795, and two two others before 1800. He was recorded as a tailor with a house and family in the center of town in about 1800.

The Meagher fortune was built up largely in St. John's. By 1805 he had lived in St. John's for 20 years and had become respected in the community. In 1806 he was elected to a committee of the Irish Benevolent Society, one of few Catholics to gain such an honour. In 1807 he was a member of the St. John's Society of Merchants. His leap from tailor to merchant came in 1808 with the purchase of a sixty ton brig for deep-sea trade. A larger vessel was acquired a year later and his partnership with a Waterford tailor in St. John's dissolved in 1811.

The merchant trade of the Meagher's grew rapidly. In the autumn of 1809 Meagher shipped over 1,350 quintals (67,500 kilograms) of cod to Waterford. The return voyage to St. John's returned provisions and passengers, and was rounded out with a trip to Boston. Meagher picked an opportune time to establish his maritime trade. The final years of the Napoleonic wars saw a boom in the demand for Newfoundland cod. favourable tarrifs and a near monopoly by the Newfoundland fishery led to a dramatic increase in trade between Waterford and St. John's between 1809 and 1815. Meagher did a great deal of business with Richard Forgarty, his agent and principal supplier.

In 1815 Meagher admitted his two sons as full partners. They prospered in the post-Napoleonic recession in the fishery market, taking advantage of bankrupt houses to expand their clientele. Meagher then moved to Waterford in 1815 to establish the company's own marketing base. His eldest son, Thomas Jr. remained in Newfoundland, assuming his fathers position as treasurer of the Irish Benevolent Society in 1815.

Meagher returned to Waterford and acquired Ballycanvan, an imposing Gregrorian villa east of the city. it is from here he managed his extensive Newfoundland trade. Given his 20 year residence in Newfoundland, he retained a close relationship with the island. In 1819 his two sons joined him in Ballycanvan. Thomas Jr. married Alicia Quan, the daughter of local merchant Thomas Quan, in 1820. Between 1812 and 1821 Meager's main ship made two round trips annually to St. John's. A run of bad luck however, including fires in St. John's in 1817 and 1819, the loss of three ships between 1820 and 1823 and the decline of the Waterford-St. John's trade route. While still dealing with the Newfoundland cod oil trade as late at 1831, the Meaghers' eventually concentrated on the bacon trade with England. They eventually abandoned maritime trade altogether, renting out their extensive premises to other merchants.

Thomas Meagher and Thomas Meagher Jr. became involved in the land market, and his sons and grandsons in the fields of law, politics the military and the church. Thomas Jr. and his wife moved into a Gregorian mansion on the quay (now the Granville Hotel) and was joined in 1829 by Thomas Sr. and his wife. Thomas Meagher died in Waterford, Ireland the 26 January 1837 at the age of 73.

Thomas Meagher Jr. emerged as an active public figure in Waterford. Shortly after settling in Waterford he became involved in the struggle for reform in the city. He was elected to the mostly Protestant chamber of commerce in 1823, was a secretary of the Catholic association and a noted speaker in the fight for Catholic rights and the repeal of anti-Catholic punitive laws. Meagher Jr, was also treasurer of the Orphan Society, a leading Catholic charity in Waterford. In 1843 he became the first Catholic Mayor of Waterford since the seventeenth century, holding the post until 1845.

The direct connection between Thomas F. Meagher and Newfoundland is one of family - Thomas F. Meagher is the son of Thomas Meagher Jr, born in Newfoundland in 1795. What then, of the connection between the Irish tricolour and the Newfoundland tricolour?

In a recollection of his return to Waterford in 1843, Thomas F. Meagher speaks of his fondness for Waterford:

The William Penn stopped her paddles, let off her steam, hauled in close to the hulk, and made fast. I was at home once more. Twelve months had passed since I bid good-bye to it. Everything was just as I had left it. The same policeman, chewing a straw, was dawdling up and down the flag-way opposite where the steamer came to anchor. The same old Tramore jingle was lazily jingling by. The good old Dean of the Protestant Cathedral, in his black knee-breeches and long black gaiters, his episcopal hat and ebony cane, was still pattering and puffing along the smooth broad side-walk from the Mayor's office to Mrs. M'Cormac's confectionery, and back again. The same casks, the same bales of soft goods, the same baulks of timber I had seen there ten years ago, were still lying on the Quay, between the river and the iron chains and the pillars. The same rueful, wild haggard face seemed to be pressed against the rusty bars of the second window from the basement of the Ring Tower - the same I had seen as I drove past in her Majesty's mail coach on my way to Dublin the summer before. And there was the spire of the cathedral right up against me; and there was Cromwell's Rock right behind me; and the Abbey church; and Grubb's steam-mills; and White's dockyard; and the glorious wooden bridge, built by Cox, of Boston, a mile up the river from where I stood; and the shipping; and the big butter market; and the shops, and stores along the Quay - an awkward squad of various heights and uniforms, several hundred yards in length. Waterford never appeared to me to change. For a century at least, it has not gained a wrinkle nor lost a smile. (http://members.tripod.com/waterfordhistory/recollections_of_waterford.htm)

He remained in Waterford, likely living in his Father's mansion on the quay for the next five years till his 1848 creation of the Irish tricolour and his exile from Ireland.

There are several factors which lead one to reasonably conclude that Thomas F. Meagher saw the Newfoundland tricolour on a regular basis and was familiar with it. First, he had a Newfoundland connection. He owned property in St. John's, willed in trust to him by his grandfather. They were recorded as landowners there in 1849.

Second, his family was closely connected to other Newfoundland merchants who had relocated to Waterford and were active politically. Thomas Fogarty, Partick Morris and James Kent were close to the Meagher family. Their ships would regularly arrive and dock at the quay outside his home - flying the tricolour. Other Newfoundland merchant ships flying the tricolour also docked in Waterford, including Lawrence O'Brien's.

The original flag created by Meagher is very close in design to the tricolour of Newfoundland. In Meagher's flag, the orange band replaced the pink of the native Newfoundland flag. The orange band was placed closest to the flagpole until the revival of the Irish tricolour in 1916, when the design was reversed.

So if one looks at these disparate events, a pattern seems to emerge. A series of ships from Talamh-an-Éisc dock in front of your house for five years of your adult life. They often fly a tricolour of the Protestant and Catholic banners and incorporate a white band in the centre representing peace between the two. If you were designing an Irish flag where would you get your ideas?

The influence of the French tricolour should not be dismissed. It republician roots was no doubt an important factor in the design of the Irish tricolour. But given the extensive Newfoundland links of the Meagher family and the prominent placement of the Newfoundland tricolour in front of Meagher's home during his time there, there is an excellent case to be made for a common link between the two and the infulence of the pink white and green in the design of the Irish tricolour. The shared themes of the flag as a banner of peace between Protestant and Catholic is a common feature of both, and perhaps the inspiration for the Irish tricolour. Of course, neither relationship can be definitively proven, but it remains an interesting link between Newfoundland and Ireland.

(Comments? I would enjoy hearing them. I can be reached at brian.lake@brianlake.ca, or via other means - see the "about" section in the top menu)

Source: Mannion, John. "Migration and Upward Mobility; the Meagher Family in Ireland and Newfoundland, 1730-1830," Irish Economic and Social History XV(1988): 54-70. Source: O'Neill, Paul. "Around and About" The Monitor July 1976. pp. 11-12) Source: Harrington, Michael Francis. "The Native Flag of Newfoundland" Atlantic Advocate November, 1959.

Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Flag

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The Newfoundland and Labrador flag was officially adopted and hoisted in 1980.
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It was designed by artist Christopher Pratt. White is symbolic of snow and ice; blue represents the sea, red represents the human struggle for success, and gold the confidence of the Canadian people. The two triangles outlined in red are symbolic of the mainland and the islands of the province, and the golden arrow points to a bright future.

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