£½m price run up the flagpole for tricolour

And yesterday it emerged that the 94-year-old flag – the first ever symbol of an independent Republic of Ireland – almost never flew from the top of the rebel headquarters in the General Post Office in Dublin.

The tricolour flag was delivered just days before the rebellion – with the colours in the wrong order.

Revolutionary leader Sean MacDiarmada ordered the flag with the colours green, white and gold from left to right.

The green in the flag represented the Gaelic Catholic majority living in the country while the orange symbolised the Protestant minority population.

The white rectangle in the centre of the flag represented the peace between the two religious groups.

But when it arrived from a drapery company in Dublin the rebels discovered the colours were in the order gold, white and green.

It is understood the flag was unstitched and re-assembled with the colours in the correct order just hours before it was due to fly above the GPO.

Some historians claim it was the sister of Republican hero Sean Heuston who spent hours re-stitching the flag but others say it was a joint effort of Republican wives.

The flag became an iconic image and witnesses recalled seeing it flying above the GPO building two days after the rebellion ended – a signal to many that British control over the country was slipping.

Sergeant Thomas Davis, 53, stashed the flag during a clear-up operation of the city after the Easter Rising, which saw hundreds slaughtered in April 1916.

After capturing the flag, Sgt Davis, who served with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, kept it safe before giving it to Dr George St George in thanks for treating his injuries.

The Tricolour is the now the recognised flag of the Republic of Ireland.

The flag, which is 75cm high and 160cm wide, is the only recorded full-sized Tricolour from the 1916 revolution. It is expected to sell for between 333,000 and 466,000 when it goes under the hammer at Bloomsbury Auctions in New York on 23 March.