Last modified: 2002-06-28 by rob raeside
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A report of a previous flag is given by Divy
Kervella (1998) in "Emblèmes et symboles des Bretons et des Celtes".
According to the author, there is no Interceltic flag recognized by all. The most known was created by Robert
Berthelier, from Brittany, in the 50's. It is made of a green field charged with two
yellow interlaced triskells, the first of them symbolizing the Gaelic countries (Scotland, Man, Ireland) and the second of them symbolizing
the Brittonic countries (Wales, Cornwall, Brittany). Each of the six nations is therefore symbolized by a branch of the triskells. The
triskells are inscribed in a yellow Celtic circle, which has been used by the Celts as a rallying sign since the beginning of the century.
Green symbolizes both fredoom and the sea which links the Celtic countries.
Green and yellow have been used as the Celtic colours since the birth of the Celtic movements. For instance, the
movement Bleimor used a green flag including a yellow circle.
Purple is also often used, as the colour of heather, the emblem plant of the Celts.
(See for instance the second flag of Bleun Brug
movement, litt. flower of heather, with a purple field). The heather was used as symbol by two Breton movements with opposed ideology: Bleun Brug
(Catholic and nationalist) and Brug (libertarian). On 23 August 1901, during its first meeting held in Dublin, the Celtic
Congress unanimously adopted the heather as the Celtic flower.
"The Song of the Celts" by The Wolftones, says:
"The flower of the free
The heather the heather
The Bretons and Scots and Irish together
The Manx and the Welsh and Cornish forever
Six nations are we, all Celtic and free."
Ivan Sache, 11 February 2002
![[Panceltic flag]](../images/i/int-celt.gif)
by Blas Delgado Ortiz, 10 February 2002
The flag is a collage of the flags of the six Celtic nations (clockwise from upper left): Brittany, Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland. I don't know the exact name of the emblem at the centre, but there is, at the British Museum, a very ancient bronze enameled shield by La Tène culture, from early 1st century BC, which has three circles in vertical disposition, the middle one bigger than the others, which has similar wavy patterns forming intricate designs, though not the one seen at the flag. So, the symbol has to be very ancient too.
Blas Delgado Ortiz, 10 February 2002
Linguistically, the Celtic culture (barely) survived only in the peripheral areas of the British
Isles and in the French Brittany. These are the areas to this day more Celtic in nature. But throughout the
northwestern Iberia (Spanish Galicia and Asturias and the Portuguese Trás os Montes),
Celtic roots survived intensely in traditions and folklore. This area is a sort of second
league in the ranking of "Celticness", despite having a Latin language
(four of them, actually: Galician, Portuguese, Asturo-Leonese and Castillan).
The flag above would be a flag of the first league, those areas with not only Celtic culture, but also
Celtic language.
Jorge Candeias, 11 February 2002
![[Panceltic flag]](../images/i/int-cel2.gif)
by Uilleam Stiùbhart, 22 May 2002
The use of Pan-Celtic flags is during meetings, such as Celtic festivals, for inter-Celtic groups, such as the Celtic congress, or perhaps for people of all or many of the six Celtic nations descent. The one I have designed is based on Celtic symbols. It has on the border in each corner Celtic knotwork. This, obviously, represents Celtic culture. In the center is a large Celtic cross. This represents the separate Christianities of the Six nations: Anglicanism (Ireland, Scotland, Wales), Catholicism (Ireland, Brittany), Methodism (Cornwall, Wales), and Presbyterianism (Scotland), and also Celtic Christianity. The six six-pointed stars represent the six Celtic nations. The knot in the center represents Christianity (the Trinity).
The colors have several meanings. White means purity and justice. The dark blue of the knotwork border and the cross represents the sea which separates all of the nations. The red star represents the Isle of Man, the dark green, Ireland, the blue, Scotland, the white, Cornwall, the light green, Wales, and the black, Brittany. The six pointed stars each represent the six Celtic nations.
Uilleam Stiùbhart, 22 May 2002
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