Wearing of the Green, is it?

St. Patrick's Day.

It's a day of celebration of having Irish blood course through the
veins. Why wear green?

The wearing of the green was first worn in honor of St. Patrick who
used the Shamrock to demonstrate the Holy Trinity to the Irish people
back around 400 AD. In fact, the color blue was the first prominent
color associated with St. Patrick. Irish who became Christians would
wear shamrocks to show their support of Ireland and of the Roman
Catholic Church. Changing to wearing of the green seems to have
become popular in the 1700s.

Those Irish who are not Roman Catholic wear the color orange. Some
say this is because both orange and green coincide peacefully on the
Irish flag. Others say the orange is the Irish Protestant way to
honor William of Orange, a king of England, Ireland and Scotland in
the late 1600s. William of Orange was raised in the teachings of
Calvin and was Protestant.

The first known public St. Patrick's Day Celebration in the United
States was in Boston in 1737. Even George Washington allowed his
Irish troops to honor the day in 1780.

People who choose to wear orange today, in addition to the green, do
so to honor their Irish heritage. Another common method to honor
Irish heritage is to use the Anglicized Gaelic term 'Erin Go Bragh."
Ireland Forever.

My Irish blood soars. It courses through my veins as I research more
of my family history. My ancestors who chose to come to America
brought with them a tremendous heritage of courage, strength, and
deep religious beliefs.

Erin Go Bragh.