In the old seal of Carrickfergus (31), granted by James I., the form of this ancient harp of Brian Boru is excellently displayed. Within the circle are the initials of the King, I.R. (_Jacobus Rex_), and the date 1605, and on the shield in the centre are three Irish harps, having the rounded front pillar and the curious upper sweep of the neck, termed the "harmonic curve," of the type known as the Irish harp of Brian Boru. [Illustration: 31. SEAL OF CARRICKFERGUS, 1605.] Although this Irish harp was introduced in the seal of the Irish city during his reign, the emblem which had been placed in his royal arms by James I. as the emblem of Ireland was the angelic harp of Hibernia, and in this form it remained on the royal standards of all the succeeding sovereigns until Queen Victoria, in whose royal arms (32) the Irish harp was displayed. [Illustration: 32. ROYAL ARMS OF QUEEN VICTORIA.] In 1849, when Queen Victoria first visited Ireland, being the first occasion upon which a British Queen had ever visited the Island, a medal was struck to commemorate the event. On this are the profiles of Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince Consort, and on the reverse (33) is the old Irish harp surmounted by the royal crown. It is true that the angelic harp is frequently to be seen upon the flags flown as royal standards, but the Irish harp is most beautifully shown in the coat-of-arms upon the back of Her Majesty's royal throne in the House of Lords at Westminster (34). As the harp of the pagan goddess Hibernia had been changed to the Christian cross of St. Patrick, so now again it had been followed by the Irish harp of the Christian King, Brian Boru, and through his grave at St. Patrick's ancient city of Armagh is again connected with Ireland's patron saint. Thus, whether it be cross or harp, both the official emblems of Ireland are associated with St. Patrick. [Illustration: 33. MEDAL OF QUEEN'S FIRST VISIT TO IRELAND.] During only one period in the early story of our Flag had Ireland been represented on its folds, as is shown in Cromwell's Jacks and in the Commonwealth Ensign (Pl. IV., figs. 1 and 2), but it had not been by a cross, as were the other nationalities, but by a golden harp on a blue ground. Another emblem of Ireland, the green shamrock, is also connected in legend with St. Patrick, as having been used by him, through the lesson of its three leaves joined in one, in explaining the doctrine of the Trinity. Thus both the shamrock and the red saltire cross form the salient features of the insignia of the "Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick," the Irish order of knighthood. [Illustration: 34. THE THRONE OF QUEEN VICTORIA IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS, 1900.]