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Northern Ireland: Putative Blue Ensigns

A reported Northern Ireland Blue Ensign with harp
Putative blue ensign with red hand shield

A reported Northern Ireland Blue Ensign with harp

The World Book Encyclopedia (Chicago, 1944) shows a flag for Northern Ireland that I have not seen before. It is a British Blue Ensign with a harp symbol on the fly.
Roger Moyer, 11 August 1999

I think it's fairly clear what happened here: an Irish symbol was inserted in the fly of a British ensign to meet the vexillologist's perceived need for a Northern Ireland flag. It reminds me of what happened in the case of the 'green ensign' that was attributed to Ireland in some foreign flag charts of the 19th century.
Vincent Morley, 14 August 1999

This flag was also reported from a poster dated 1943 - the image is identical to that shown in the 1944 Encyclopedia, and clearly one is the reproduction of the other.
Poster reported by Luismi Arias, 4 August 2001

It is certain that the blue ensign charged with a harp was never used as the flag of Northern Ireland. Indeed, there was no flag for Northern Ireland prior to 1953 when a banner of the government's arms was introduced. This in turn ceased to be official when the Northern Ireland government was abolished in 1972 but it continues to be found in flag books - demonstrating once again the principle that "vexillology abhors a vacuum" ... if a territory doesn't have a flag, vexillologists provide it with one.

I have recently found what may be the first direct evidence for the use of a "ha