The Wearing of the Blue?

By Nancy March 13th, 2013

In Irish mythology, sovereignty was represented as a woman in a blue robe, and blue was originally associated with Saint Patrick.  Over time, though, green became the favored association that we know and love today. 

According to popular history, Saint Patrick used the green shamrock with its three leaves to explain the Trinity to the Irish in the 5th century.  The Irish began to celebrate his feast day around the 9th or 10th century, but it wasn’t until the 17th century that green shamrocks were worn.  It had been a sacred plant for the ancient Irish as it symbolized the rebirth of spring.  As the English began to make laws around this time against the Irish and Catholicism, the shamrock became a symbol of pride and nationalism, and the “wearing of the green” meant to wear a shamrock on one’s clothes.

Wishing you a happy St. Patrick’s Day!