Northern Ireland team chief still seeking guidance on flag

The official in charge of Northern Ireland’s Commonwealth Games team has said it is still waiting on guidance on what flag the team will compete under despite multiple requests to The Executive Office.

Conal Heatley, chief executive of Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland (CGNI), said that if no guidance is provided then it will use its logo at Glasgow 2026.

Previously the team competed under the Ulster Banner but the flag has no official status in Northern Ireland although it is used by some sports teams. CGNI first raised the issue of the flag more than three years ago.

BBC News NI has asked The Executive Office for comment.

The Ulster Banner was the flag of the former Government of Northern Ireland from 1953 until it was was abolished in 1973.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show, Heatley said the CGNI has written to the Executive Office “on a number of occasions”.

“We have met with civil servants and they operate within parameters set by politicians. They were very helpful conversations that we had but it didn’t progress anything,” Heatley said.

He added that the CGNI reached out to the five main political parties, but “quite sadly only two of them have met with us”.

While in the Olympics, athletes from Northern Ireland can choose to compete under the Union Flag (Team GB) or tricolour (Team Ireland), in the Commonwealth Games the Ulster Banner has been used as the flag of the Northern Ireland contingent.

Unlike the Olympics, the four contingent parts of the UK compete separately at the Commonwealth Games, meaning none is represented by the Union Flag.

The Union Flag has no official status in Northern Ireland nor any other part of the United Kingdom.

Heatley said the Union Flag does not work at the Commonwealth Games because it does not “uniquely represent” Northern Ireland.

“It’s recognised that the Ulster Banner holds cultural significance for a large section of one side of community in Northern Ireland and I think we need to be honest about this and say there are people on the other side of community who don’t feel the same about that,” Heatley said.

He said that “in the absence of a flag that we’re instructed to use by politicians, the only thing that we can do” is use the CGNI logo.

Heatley added that the Ulster Banner “does hold massive cultural significance, we recognise that, for a section of community, but it is not an inclusive emblem”.

Some unionist politicians have criticised any move to change the flag representing Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games.

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister told the Nolan Show: “It’s a matter for government to change the flag if that’s the desire. If government doesn’t, then it’s up to the Commonwealth Games Association to get on with it and to stop their politicking.”

In November 2024, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson said there should be no changes to the flag.

A £800,000 Stormont report was released in December 2021, aimed at addressing disputes over flags and bonfires. However, it has not been implemented.

The report did mention a new flag for Northern Ireland – it would “not be a regional flag or a national flag but rather a civic flag that would be designed to be representative of the diversity of our society, including our new communities”.

However, it was unable to reach consensus on the proposal and said it hoped political and civic leaders could progress the issue.