"Looking for help on 12th century flag ideas" Topic

Looking for some help from the collective knowledge of TMP. I like to make my own flags when possible. In this instance it is for my Kingdom of the Isles Scotts (Somerled) army from about 1150-1160. In a case like this, when so little is known, I am not overly picky about being 100% accurate, "Kind of plausible" is fine – close enough is good enough, as they say. But I do want them to look more or less "medieval-ish" at least.
I think I have a good handle on the Scottish Isles' units (see below). Their devices are mostly based upon a combination of Pictish stone carvings and ships (see below). That seemed reasonable enough. But I am having trouble coming up with something for the Ulster Mercenaries used by Somerled (according to the novel I read, anyway).
I am looking for something that identifies them as being Irish, yet still connects them to the main army. So, dose anyone know of some type of heraldic symbol that would represent 12th century Ireland?
My first thought was either the harp or the red hand of Ulster:
According to my internet research, "The harp's presence in Ireland dates back over a thousand years. It can be seen on manuscripts and Christian stone crosses, which date back to the 8th century." And, "Since the 13th century, the harp had been considered the heraldic symbol of Ireland." So kind of close.
The Red Hand of Ulster, "…is first documented in surviving records in the 13th century, where it was used by the Hiberno-Norman de Burgh earls of Ulster.[3] It was Walter de Burgh who became first Earl of Ulster in 1243 who combined the de Burgh cross with the Red Hand to create a flag that represented the Earldom of Ulster and later became the modern Flag of Ulster." So also kind of close.
Any suggestions?
Here is what I have so far. The names of the unit are taken from the novel, "Lord of the Isles" by Tranter. The top two are for Somerled and his 2IC. The 2IC doesn't represent anything special, I just think it looks cool.
The next two are the Irish ones – the ones I am not happy with as they look to modern. Thinking of just making the ships larger with the red hand or a harp in the corner, unless someone has a better suggestion (I like the ships).
The rest are the various units from the isles – based on Pictish stone carvings, By the way, I know that the Isles and the Picts don't necessarily overlap, but it looked cool.

What about Irish knots, mate? Worn on shields, as backgrounds for other designs and as a clan symbol. A search using "Irish heraldic knots" gets a lot of information- easier to unreavel than searching "Celtic knots".

I'd have thought that Pictish was a bit far fetched, the Norse had been dominant on the west coast & the isles for a long time and even native Scots would have significant bits of Norse culture.

Irish is far more likely. Boar & Salmon feature in later imagery from both sides of the Irish sea and the horse is a common Celtic image. Knots of various styles – good idea. The ship is still used today but stick to the galley style, the design in the first image is more 13/14C.

An armed man (think Galloglaich) or a broch-like tower & the red hand is certainly of considerable antiquity though possibly not related directly to the Isles as far as I'm aware.

Don't get too 'heraldic' though, a simple striking design is more likely than multi-coloured ones.

Do you mean more like this:

Yes, that would be closer to what I would expect the locals of that area and time to think of as a warship. A bit over the top with the dragon heads but flashy and aggressive fits.

The flags you posted look more like 14th century or later, both in the heraldry and the shape.

In the rest of Europe, long thin flags – gonfanons etc. – would be the main style of flag and generally with little by way of anything like heraldry. Some are long triangles, others rectangular generally with tails. Even once personal heraldry began to be used, the gonfanons were only occasionally shown with any similar device. These are often shown on German seals even in the mid 13th century and the craftsmanship is fine enough to show that this is not due to simplification.
The idea of the flag being divorced from the heraldry can be seen in the 15th century where the similarly long standards relied on a badge and the livery rather than the lord's heraldry. The earlier gonfanons were even simpler.

Once heraldry started being shown on flags, they were usually very tall – perhaps 4 times as tall as they were long. These appeared during the 13th century, so still later than your period. The heraldry could be distorted to fit the shape – e.g. the Spanish king only showed two of the four quarters of his arms.

There are exceptions to these shapes – the Hospitaller banner in Matthew Paris's work c.1250 looks square with five short tails, though even this may be distorted with the tails much shorter than in reality.
link has some examples including some exceptions to the rule. The flags in the late 12th century Sicilian work by Eboli are particular exceptions since they can have some very simple heraldry and have a longer extension to the top part of the flag.

The flags you posted look more like 14th century or later, both in the heraldry and the shape. The example from GildasFacit is early 14th century.
"The coat of arms is blazoned: Or, a galley Sable with dragon heads at prow and stern and flag flying Gules, charged on the hull with four portholes Argent. It is the only known example of the painted arms of the MacDougall Lords of Lorne" (Wikipedia).

In the rest of Europe, long thin flags – gonfanons etc. – would be the main style of flag and generally with little by way of anything like heraldry. Some are long triangles, others rectangular generally with tails. Even once personal heraldry began to be used, the gonfanons were only occasionally shown with any similar device. These are often shown on German seals even in the mid 13th century and the craftsmanship is fine enough to show that this is not due to simplification.
The idea of the flag being divorced from the heraldry can be seen in the 15th century where the similarly long standards relied on a badge and the livery rather than the lord's heraldry. The earlier gonfanons were even simpler.

Once heraldry started being shown on flags, they were usually very tall – perhaps 4 times as tall as they were long. These appeared during the 13th century, so still later than your period. The heraldry could be distorted to fit the shape – e.g. the Spanish king only showed two of the four quarters of his arms.

There are exceptions to these shapes – the Hospitaller banner in Matthew Paris's work c.1250 looks square with five short tails, though even this may be distorted with the tails much shorter than in reality.
link has some examples including some exceptions to the rule. The flags in the late 12th century Sicilian work by Eboli are particular exceptions since they can have some very simple heraldry and have a longer extension to the top part of the flag.