The Inter-Celtic Flag

Enough to make your head spin? Or your heart burst with pride? The Inter-Celtic Flag - in all its glory.

Following on from the article reporting on the 54th Festival Interceltique of Lorient in last month’s newsletter, we now delve a little further into the meaning of ‘Inter-celtic’.  The flag above was designed in the late 20th century to represent the collective identity and heritage of the Celtic nations or regions.

At the movement’s core are the six nations with a surviving indigenous Celtic language.  Ireland (Éire, green, white, and orange tricolour), Scotland (Alba, blue and white saltire), and the Isle of Man (Mannin, red field with the three-legged triskelion) all belong to the Goidelic (or Gaelic) language group.  Wales (Cymru, red dragon on green and white), Brittany (Breizh, black and white Gwenn ha Du) and Cornwall (Kernow, St Piran’s Cross - white on black) all belong to the Brythonic (or Brittonic) group. 

Despite no longer having a surviving Celtic language, this version of the flag includes the two additional regions of Galicia (Galiza, blue and white stripes) and Asturias (Asturies, blue field with the gold Victory Cross).  These are both autonomous communities in Spain which are regularly involved in Inter-celtic movements and events.

The Inter-celtic flag is often flown at cultural gatherings celebrating the shared history, mythology, music, arts, literature and traditions that connect these diverse regions across the British Isles and continental Europe. The central symbol, a black and white Triskele or three-spiralled motif, is a potent and ancient Celtic symbol of dynamism and cycles, visually binding the individual flags together into one shared banner.

-- Philip Selbie, September 2025

[Editor's note - a quick googling throws up even more exotic versions of the flag - such as this one on Reddit, with 14 constituents.]