supporters. However, historically, some depictions of the arms have been accompanied by various supporters. For example, during the late Tudor period, depictions of the arms appeared accompanied by a dragon and a lion, representing Wales and England. The Tudors were monarchs of England but of Welsh descent. In later centuries, following the union of the crowns of England and Scotland, depictions appeared accompanied by a lion and a unicorn, representing England and Scotland. Other depictions included two stags, representing Ireland, or a stag and a lion. However, none of these were ever a part of the blazon and should be interpreted in terms of artistic licence. Several mottos associated with Ireland and have also been used alongside representations of the harp, including the patriotic slogan, (), (), the motto of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, and It is new strung and shall be heard, the motto of the Society of United Irishmen. However, no heraldic motto has ever been granted to Ireland and none ever accompanies the coat of arms. Green flag As well as the coat of arms, which shows the harp on an Azure (blue) field, Ireland has long been associated with a flag also bearing the harp. This flag is identical to the coat of arms but with a green field, rather than blue, and is blazoned Vert, a Harp Or, stringed Argent (a gold harp with silver strings on a green field). The earliest-known record of the green flag is attributed to Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill, a 17th-century exile and soldier in the Irish brigade of the Spanish army. His ship, the St. Francis, is recorded as flying from her mast top "the Irish harp in a green field, in a flag" as she lay at anchor at Dunkirk en route to Ireland. Ó Néill was returning to Ireland in order to participate in the Irish Confederate Wars (1641–1653), during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (a series of civil wars engulfing England, Ireland and Scotland), where he would contribute as a leading general. Variants of the green flag were flown by United Irishmen during the 1798 Rebellion and by the Irish émigré in foreign armys, such as the Irish Brigade of the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865) and Saint Patrick's Battalion in the Mexican Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). Although the Kingdom of Ireland never had an official flag,