NORTHERN IRELAND WILL compete under the Ulster Banner at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after receiving guidance from Communities Minister Gordon Lyons. 

The Northern Ireland team previously competed under the Ulster Banner, which was the official flag of the government of Northern Ireland from 1953 until 1973, but now has no official status.

Conal Heatley, the head of the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland (CGNI), had said it would use its own logo instead of the Ulster Banner if it did not receive guidance from the Stormont Executive. 

In a social media post on Monday, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said he had written to Heatley to outline his position, adding: “There is no need for change and the flag should remain.”

In a statement yesterday, the CGNI said it had been asking the NI government for guidance on the flag since November 2020. 

The head of the Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland had said it would use its own logo instead of the Ulster Banner if it did not receive guidance.

“Following extensive media coverage on Monday 12 January 2026, Mr Gordon Lyons MLA provided such guidance,” the statement read. 

According to the statement, Lyons told the CGNI:  “For the avoidance of any doubt, and to reiterate on the guidance which you have sought, the Ulster Banner should be used as the flag for Northern Ireland athletes at the Commonwealth Games.”

“We note this guidance which will be implemented,” the statement concluded.

Lyons, who has responsibility for sport in NI, subsequently shared the statement, saying CGNI had “made the right decision”. 

Heatley previously told BBC Radio Ulster that while the Ulster Banner holds “cultural significance for a large section of one side of community in Northern Ireland”, there are “people on the other side of community who don’t feel the same about that”.

The Ulster Unionist Party described the change as “deeply regrettable”, adding that decisions of this nature should only be made by politicians, but First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the flag is an “issue for the team themselves”.