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There's usually a story behind every country's flag, and Ireland is no different in that respect. Today's version of the Irish flag was originally offered as a gift from the French to Thomas Francis Meagher in the mid-19th century, although that particular version did not become official for over 50 years from that point.
Ireland's flag as we know it today originated in 1848 and is well known for its tri-color layout throughout the world. The three colors (green, white, and orange) tell a tale of two nationalities merging peacefully in one country. The green stands for the people of Ireland, the majority of which belong to the Roman Catholic faith. The orange stands for the British supporters of William of Orange, the majority of which belong to the Protestant faith. And the third color, white, symbolizes peace between these two peoples. It is not coincidental that each color gets an equally sized rectangle in side-by-side format on the flag, symbolizing a mutual respect among both sides.
Before this peace was obtained between the factions, an earlier version of the Irish flag was used starting in year 1798. The design involved a plain green background with the image of a harp on top of it. Although the tri-color flag was first displayed in 1848, it did not become Ireland's official flag until 1921, when the country first gained its independence.
There is also some controversy involving the flag. The first one is with the third color originally intended as orange. Some of today's interpretations depict a color with a yellowish, or even gold, tint, said to be found in poems describing the colors as "green, white, and gold." This mix-up is severely frowned upon by the Department of Taoiseach, as it would seem to disrespect the followers of the Orange Order in historic Ireland. Another controversy involves the use of the flag for the entire island of Ireland. Since Northern Ireland is not technically considered part of Ireland, there is some debate involving whether or not there should be the same use of the tri-color flag in this region. While the Union Flag used by the UK as a whole is the only official flag for the Northern Ireland region, in many cases the tri-colored version flies alongside it.
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