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Kildare, Ireland

Kildare County Council (new flag)

by Olivier Touzeau

Deauville, France, is twinned Kildare, Ireland. Usually flags are exchanged upon twinning agreements. The flag for Kildare is described as a banner of the arms of the county of Kildare which, according to the arms shown on Ralf Hartemink's website, is:
"The red diagonal cross symbolises the ancient aristocratic family of the Kildare area, the Fitzgeralds, who used a red diagonal cross on a white background as their coat-of-arms. The harp is the symbol for the fianna, a legendary group of warriors from Celtic mythology who supposedly had their headquarters in Kildare. The cross is the Saint Bridget's cross; Saint Brigid lived in a monastery in county Kildare. The horse's head symbolises the horse-breeding tradition of Kildare.
The acorns are taken from the Irish for Kildare (cill dara) which means the church of the oak tree."

Olivier Touzeau, 7 November 2001

I regret that I can't add anything to that statement. The flag described by Olivier Touzeau is a banner of the current arms of Kildare County Council. It may very well be in use as the flag of the county council, but I can't confirm that. We can say, however, that it is definitely not the flag of Kildare town. Indeed, I would be almost certain that the town has no flag: in Ireland, only the counties and the major cities (which are 'county boroughs' or municipal counties in their own right) have flags. I know of no exceptions to that rule. Since Kildare town gave its name to the county, it is perhaps natural that an emblem belonging to the latter was used to represent the former.

Vincent Morley, 25 November 2001

The flags which Mario sent are all flags of county councils - the elected bodies which are responsible for local administration. They are flown at council offices but they do not represent the counties and are not used by the general population.

I don't know what flag (if any) Kildare County Council currently uses, but I doubt very much if the one sent by Mario is still in use because the council's present arms differ considerably from those which appear on the flag.

Vincent Morley, 1 November 1997

Kildare County Council (old flag)

by Mario Fabretto

Vincent Morley, 1 November 1997

This flag is of the county council - the elected body responsible for local administration. It is flown at council offices but it does not represent the county and is not used by the general population.

Vincent Morley, 1 November 1997

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