 The current version, designed in 1953, uses a winged-maiden harp and consists of a golden " with silver strings on a blue background.The shade of blue in the field was known as Saint Patrick's Blue when used in 1783 for the regalia of the Order of Saint Patrick.The change from blue to green is associated with the United Irishmen, an Irish nationalist movement associated with both Catholic and Protestant Irish — its leader Wolfe Tone was Protestant; green was a colour of rebellion in the eighteenth century.