the saleroom

1930s A flag of the Army Comrades Association or 'Blueshirts'. A cotton flag, the blue background with a red diagonal cross hand stitched to both sides. Extremely rare - the first we have found recorded at auction. The “Blueshirts” was originally the nickname of The Army Comrades Association (ACA), later named National Guard, an organisation set up by General Eoin O’Duffy in 1932. He was a leader in the IRA in the War of Independence and a National Army General during the Civil War. He was Irish Police Commissioner in the Irish Free State from 1922-33 but was dismissed from his position by De Valera in 1933. He took control of the ACA and remodelled the organisation. In the process he adopted a few of the elements and many of the symbols of European fascism. The use of the Roman right arm salute, the blue uniform and the holding of huge rallies became widespread. Membership was restricted to “Irish” people or those whose parents professed the Christian faith. In September 1933 the Blueshirts became part of the newly formed Fine Gael party with O’Duffy as the Fine Gael President and W.T. Cosgrave and John Dillon as Vice Presidents. The Blueshirts" became the youth wing of the party, and although the name was abandoned at the beginning of the war in 1939, it is still applied as a nickname by many political opponents of Fine Gael to all members of the party." 28 x 46in. (71.12 x 116.84cm)

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