I would be curious as to where you were when you were wearing your orange hat. In any event, orange is part of the Irish Flag and anyone who has an understanding of Irish history knows the relevance of this. The flag represents the coming together of Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants in their fight for a united Ireland and free from rule of England. Many Protestants held to that ideal and found themselves swinging from the end of a rope because of it. Let's face it. The majority of Protestants in the past hated Catholics and the Catholic religion and chose to set up their own Protestant autocrasy rather than live with those heathen and pagan Catholics. There is still hope that somehow the modern day Northern Irish Protestants can come out of their 17th century shell and realize that the Pope does not want to convert them to Catholocism. I believe most of them feel this way but their leaders like Ian Paisley fill them with the same hate for Catholics that muslum imams fill their followers with hate toward Christions and Jews. Anyway, the majority of Americans from Irish descent know full well what you want them to believe what the orange stands for so that you can provoke a response. To Americans of Irish descent you're either Irish or not. Orange or Green, Irish is Irish.
Southern California
There is still hope that somehow the modern day Northern Irish Protestants can come out of their 17th century shell and realize that the Pope does not want to convert them to Catholocism.
My experience is that the hardcore Catholics hate the non-Catholics with about the same fervor that the hard core Protestants hate the non-Protestants. There is more that enough hate to go around from both sides. Paisley and his ilk are no better or no worse that the Gerry Adams and boys. Your one sided position is somewhere between silly and shameful.
My mother's family is Scot-Irish and many still live in NI, spread throughout the 6 counties. Though technically Protestant, like just about all of the NI citizens I have met over the years, they are secular and want the fighting to stop from all sides and have no desire to leave the UK. I don't see NI becoming part of the Irish Republic anytime soon. Dad's family is from Dingwall, Scotland which may well break from the UK before NI.
You are wrong. The colours represent those people you correctly said, but because they fight "England". The colour Orange represents not just Potestantism, but more specifically Orangeism. You won't find an Orangeman fighting "England."
The flag therefore represents peace between Irish Catholicism/Nationalism and Orangeism.
You are also right that "Irish is Irish" but just as you can be Irish-American, many people who are Northern Irish are also British.
I think your continual use of "England" instead of "Britain" shows that you do not quite grasp the sharing of identity that all the peoples of "The Isles" or "British Isles" share and also do not share. Many British people are not, never have been, and don't want to be English.