It’s no surprise that we see hundreds of people dressed in green for St. Patrick’s Day. After all, it’s one of the biggest traditions celebrated when it comes around on March 17. But have you ever wondered why we always dress in green for the occasion? You may not know why, considering that most people who wear green don’t realize that the color originated as a representation of a rebellious Irish nationalism and is somewhat connected to St. Patrick.
A legend implies that wearing on St. Patrick’s Day prevents leprechauns, small, flying red-breaded beings, from pinching you. Green, apparently, acts like an invisible coat to those leprechauns. However, this tradition seems to be more of an American tradition than an Irish one, says Elizabeth Stack, executive director of the American Irish Historical Society.
Green doesn’t have a lot of connection to St. Patrick himself, according to Stack; she says the earliest depictions of him show him clothed in the color blue. Wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day may have come from the tradition of wearing shamrock on the day of Ireland, she says. Apparently, St. Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to describe all three forms of God: God – the father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
In the Great Irish Rebellion, Owen Roe O’Neill, an Irish military leader, had sailing vessels. These sailing vessels had a flag in which represented an Irish harp on the green field rather than blue, as stated in Jerrold Casway’s 1984 biography of O’Neill. An Englishman who traveled through Ireland in 1681, named Thomas Dineley, apparently, reported people who were wearing green ribbons on their hats on March 17, according to Stack.
Around the late 1700’s. the Society of United Irishmen used the color green as a symbol of their cause: emulating the American Revolution and overthrowing English rule. A nationalist revolutionary might wear a hint of green to avoid being seen by the English, according to The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism, by Robert Kee.
In the 1800’s, Irish immigrants, who were wearing green, were just arriving in the U.S. and other countries. This became a well-known characteristic in many St. Patrick’s Day parades. The custom of wearing green during St. Patrick’s Day was so popular in the 1930s’ that President Franklin D. Roosevelt joined in.
According to the National Retail Federation, the custom of wearing green on St. Patrick’s was so popular, around 82 percent of those who celebrate the holiday proudly wear green.
Sources Cited
Kiger, P. J. (2024, March 11). Why We Wear Green on St. Patrick’s Day. HISTORY. Retrieved March 16, 2024, from https://www.history.com/news/why-we-wear-green-on-st-patricks-day
Revzack. (2024, February 17). Leprechaun. OPENCLIPART. https://openclipart.org/detail/346826/leprechaun