On the 7th of March 1848, Ireland's now well-known tricolour flag of green, white and orange was flown for the first time.

It was created by Thomas Francis Meagher, a skilled orator and statesman who later went on to become the first acting governor of Montana.

Often represented as green, white and gold the Irish flag is in fact green, white and orange - in Meagher's own words: "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."