Our intention with the 5 Flags collection this week is to offer the official flags of the 5 countries that make up the British Isles.
Yes, of course we know that Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland, however, is). But the last time we did country themes we got a lot of requests for an Ireland t-shirt. So, we’ve come up with a simple design featuring the name of Ireland, it’s official flag and it’s official motto. If it sells well, we might consider doing more Ireland related stuff (perhaps launch a separate company as the name Anglotees wouldn’t fit).
We’re not making a political stance about Ireland and Northern Ireland’s relationship.
Update: Due to the negative reaction we received for offering the Ireland flag along side the other British flags, we have removed it from sale and don’t plan to offer it again.
That said, we will undoubtedly get questions as to why we’re not offering a specific Northern Ireland flag t-shirt since it is a country in the British Isles.
The simple fact is that Northern Ireland doesn’t have its own flag anymore – it was switched to the Union Jack in the 1970’s. The St Patrick’s Cross flag is often associated with Northern Ireland but it’s not an official flag anymore (and this collection is of official flags). Also, the last time we offered an NI shirt it was just not a good seller (we’re talking single digit sales).
If we get enough requests to do this theme for a version of the Northern Irish flag, we’ll definitely consider it.
An additional update: There are two possibilities for offering a Northern Ireland flag – Offering the St Patrick’s Cross or the Ulster Banner, neither are official flags. We will do a vote and plan to offer one or the other in the future.