Crossword Genius

Sovereign on flag, an individual from western Europe (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

irishman

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'individual from western europe' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'sovereign on flag an' is the wordplay.
'sovereign' becomes 'hm' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'flag' becomes 'iris' (type of iris flower).
'hm' put after 'iris' is 'irishm'.
'irishm'+'an'='IRISHMAN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for irishman that I've seen before include "islander" , "National" , "Casement possibly" , "European" , "Eg, Dublin male" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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