How the Color of St. Patrick’s Day Went From Blue to Green

Outside street view of irish pub decorated with shamrocks for St Patricks Day
Outside street view of irish pub decorated with shamrocks for St Patricks Day
David Prahl/Envato
1 min read
Share
Outside street view of irish pub decorated with shamrocks for St Patricks Day
Outside street view of irish pub decorated with shamrocks for St Patricks Day
David Prahl/Envato
How the Color of St. Patrick’s Day Went From Blue to Green
Copy

St. Patrick’s Day usually conjures images of partying, Catholicism, Irish nationalism and, perhaps most famously, the color green: green clothes, green shamrocks, green beer and green rivers.

So my students are often surprised when I tell them that St. Patrick’s Day was once a solemn feast day when you’d be far more likely to see the color blue. In fact, there’s even a color known as St. Patrick’s blue.

‘True blue’

Historians don’t know much about St. Patrick. But they believe he was born in the fifth century as Maewyn Succat.

He wasn’t Irish; rather he was born in Wales, the son of a Roman-British official. He was, however, captured by Irish pirates and enslaved in Ireland. After six years he went back to Britain but returned to Ireland as one of the missionaries to convert Irish pagans to Christianity. At some point he adopted the Latin name Patricius. In the 10th century, the first evidence of St. Patrick being a beloved figure in Ireland emerged.

In the early 17th century, Luke Wadding, an Irish priest, persuaded the Catholic Church to make March 17 a feast day for St. Patrick.

Read more on The Conversation.

The contract clause deleted from federal regulations last month dated back to the mid-1960s and specifically said entities doing business with the government should not have segregated waiting rooms, drinking fountains or transportation
The new law would increase the hourly fee from $15 to $25 for public bodies to search and retrieve public documents under Rhode Island’s public records law
Despite what some Brown community members describe as an atmosphere of fear on campus, many said they were mobilized to protest following the deportation of Dr. Rasha Alawieh
Q&A with Elisa Iacono-Mears, Senior Events Manager
On Monday, the doctor’s lawyers requested an emergency hearing be continued to a future date to better prepare for the case
In an email, Russell Carey, a Brown administrator, referenced “concerning reports affecting our own community” of people refused re-entry into the U.S.
School Board President Ty’Relle Stephens and Vice President Anjel Newmann are hoping Providence can regain control of its struggling school district, which has been under state control since 2019