Ireland vs Ivory Coast

Ireland and Côte d'Ivoire both fly vertical green, white, and orange tricolors. The key difference is orientation: Ireland places green at the hoist (green-white-orange), while Côte d'Ivoire places orange at the hoist (orange-white-green). Ireland's flag is also longer at 1:2, compared to Côte d'Ivoire's 2:3.

Play Similarities

Ireland

Ivory Coast

Proportion: 1:2
Adopted: 1937

Colors

Irish Green #169B62
White #FFFFFF
Irish Orange #FF883E

Proportion: 2:3
Adopted: 1959

Colors

Orange #FF8200
White #FFFFFF
Green #009A44

Look foron Ireland

Look foron Ivory Coast

Green stripe attached to the flagpole (hoist)

Orange stripe attached to the flagpole (hoist)
Elongated 1:2 aspect ratio

Standard 2:3 aspect ratio
Symbolizes peace (white) between Gaelic Catholics (green) and Protestant Williamites (orange)

Orange represents northern savannas, white peace, and green southern coastal forests

Which flag is Ireland?

Two Continents, Three Colors, Opposite Flagpoles

Thomas Francis Meagher first unveiled the Irish tricolor in Waterford in March 1848. He had received the silk banner from French women sympathetic to Irish nationalist aspirations following the French Revolution. The colors were explicitly chosen to symbolize unity: green for the older Catholic population, orange for the Protestant followers of William of Orange, and white in the center representing a lasting truce between them.

Over a century later, in December 1959, the Legislative Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire adopted its own tricolor just ahead of its independence from France. Ivorian leaders wanted colors that captured the geography of their nation: warm orange reflecting the fertile savannas of the north, rich green for the southern virgin forests, and white for national peace.

The mirror-image similarity leads to frequent mix-ups. At the 2018 World Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham, Ivorian sprinter Murielle Ahouré won the 60 meters and, with no Ivorian flag at hand, celebrated with an Irish tricolor borrowed from a fan and flipped around.

Telling them apart

Both designs were influenced by the French revolutionary vertical tricolor.
Ireland's 1:2 ratio follows British maritime dimensional tradition.
Côte d'Ivoire's 2:3 ratio follows French constitutional proportions.

Questions

Why do people mix these two flags at sports events?

They are left-right mirrors. Seeing Ireland's reverse (orange at the hoist) looks like Côte d'Ivoire. Flipping a vertical tricolor upside down does not swap the hoist color.