Origins of Orange and Green on St. Patrick's Day - What Happened to Green?

Surprised by Color

Elementary school celebrations in my day encompassed the usual cliche's: the pot of gold, the rainbow, the little green clad men, green grass, and shamrocks. We never received any of the history or mythology of it. As we never celebrated the holiday at home, I knew nothing about it other than the fairy tale portion until high school.

The Irish Flag

Colors and meanings as we learned in school --

GREEN stands for 1) the Gaelic and 2) the Anglo-Norman peoples of Ireland.

ORANGE stands for Protestants of Ireland that were also supporters of William of Orange.

WHITE Stands for "union" and "truce." However, war waged in Ireland in the 20th century between the two factions, bloody and with many deaths. War lasted for 26 years, governments and religious denominations fighting among themselves until 1994. Before that, in the 1700 - 1800s, England and Ireland fought and Irish persons were hanged for wearing green.

This is what was asked of a particular wiseacre that was new to our high school that year. He liked to do things to attract attention to himself, and other students thought he was playing a similar prank with his tie on March 17.

An incoming junior, he wore an orange tie on St. Patrick's Day and was well known aournd school for being the son of the owner of a large tavern. His family was Irish, his grandparents having emigrated to America.

His answer to the tie question was that in Northern Ireland, the people wore orange as a sign of protest against the rest of Ireland and the Catholic Church. And indeed, the wisacre's family was Lutheran for generations far back. He went on to say that Italians wear red on March 17, instead of green. Students that tried to fact check this statement with teachers and other students of Itallian heritage were disappointed, because nobody seemed to know about wearing red on St. Patrick's Day.   

The school librarian also did not save the answer in any of her books and as always, appeared a little disgusted with the question. She always seemed somber and a bit disgusted and we learend later that she was a light-skinned African American and was not permitted by the school administration to admit her heritage to anyone in the school if she wanted to keep her job. 

All this nationality prejudice nonsense and oppression added disgust to my own surprise of prejudice as a concept. It was not for two more decades that I would learn that some of my own ancestors moved from England to Ireland and their descendants came to America via Liverpool around 1800 - 1840, never admitting to Americans that they'd ever lived in Ireland. Prejudice was rampant.    

When I learned at the same time of my Native American heritiage and how that had been hidden as well, I was doubly disgusted by prejudice and have remained so to this day.

But back to St. Patrick's Day. 

Some people say today in the 21st century that wearing Orange on St. Patrick's Day is akin to wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe on Martin Luther King Jr's birthday.

Thus, feelings are still running high between the Green and the Orange in some quarters. It reminds me of the Blue and the Grey of the American Civil War, although the South became very creative with their uniforms - some even wore kilts.

To this day, there are some Catholic Irish fathers in my community, In Ireland, and elsewhere that check their children's clothing on March 17 in order to determine whether they have the smallest bit of orange on anywhere. This includes shoe laces, hairclips, underwear, everything. Protestants check for green. The bad feelings are not over.

See the news stories below about continuing conflicts.

As a working adult, I was able to mix the colors on St. Patrick's Day to good effect, as you can see further below.

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"The Orange and the Green"

-- by Anthony Murphy of Liverpool, England; Recorded by The Irish Rovers. Sung to the tune of The Wearin' o' the Green.

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen.
My father, he was Orange and me mother, she was green.

My father was an Ulster man, proud Protestant was he.
My mother was a Catholic girl. From county Cork was she.
They were married in two churches, lived happily enough,
Until the day that I was born. Then, things got rather tough.

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen.
My father, he was Orange and me mother, she was green.

Baptized by Father Reilly, I was rushed away by car,
To be made a little Orangeman, my father's shining star.
I was christened "David Anthony," but still, inspite of that,
To my father, I was William, while my mother called me Pat.

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen.
My father, he was Orange and me mother, she was green.

With Mother every Sunday, to Mass I'd proudly stroll.
Then after that, the Orange lodge would try to save my soul.
For both sides tried to claim me, but i was smart because
I'd play the flute or play the harp, depending where I was.

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen.
My father, he was Orange and me mother, she was green.

One day my Ma's relations came round to visit me.
Just as my father's kinfolk were all sitting down to tea.
We tried to smooth things over, but they all began to fight.
And me, being strictly neutral, I bashed everyone in sight.

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen.
My father, he was Orange and me mother, she was green.

My parents never could agree about my type of school.
My learning was all done at home, that's why I'm such a fool.
They've both passed on, God rest 'em, but left me caught between
That awful color problem of the Orange and the Green.

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen.
My father, he was Orange and me mother, she was green

In a chain steakhouse I'd managed, I'd been able to save a hundred pounds of steaks by selling them at a discount of 50¢ on each, rather than to let them expire. District-wide, the chain authorities had ordered to many per store for a promition that did not succeed.

In light of this victory, I was able to use a little creativity on St. Patrick's day a few weeks later. Staff wore green pins, badges, and scarves in addtion to their uniforms, we put up some simple decorations of green with a bit of orange, and we died the lemonade green - and sold all of it. it was fun and sales were much hgher than average for the day of the week and the holiday date itself. Decorations had not been used previously.

Our chain continued the St. Patrick's celebration -- Lots of restaurants conducted sales promotions around holidays and still do so. The next addition to our holiday was that of green shirts worn over the staff uniform, along with a few more decorations, and Irish music playing in the dining area. It was all fun and the staff enjoyed working that day more than on others.The most fun was creating a rainbow on the wall out of different shades of green, with an orange pot of gold at the end. Thus, we used both colors without incident or objection, had fun, and raised sales as well.

Listen to the famous Irish Tenor John McCormack singing in the early 20th century (words below):

This song was sung in the streets by the Irish to remind one another of their plight.

Oh, Paddy dear, and did you hear the news that's going round?

The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground;

Saint Patrick's Day no more we'll keep, his colours can't be seen,

For there's a cruel law against the wearin' o' the green.

I met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the hand,

And he said "How's poor old Ireland, and how does she stand?"

She's the most distressful country that ever yet was seen;

They're hanging men and women there for wearin' o' the green.

Then since the colour we must wear is England's cruel red,
Sure Ireland's sons will ne'er forget the blood that they have shed;
You may take the shamrock from your hand, and cast it in the sod,
But 'twill take root and flourish there, tho' underfoot 'tis trod.
When law can stop the blades of grass from growing as they grow,
And when the leaves in summertime their verdure dare not show,
Then I will change the color that I wear in my caubeen;

But till that day, please God, I'll stick to wearin' o' the green.

But if at last our color should be torn from Ireland's heart,
Her sons, with shame and sorrow, from the dear old isle will part;
I've heard whisper of a country that lies beyond the sea,
Where rich and poor stand equal in the light of freedom's day.
Oh, Erin! Must we leave you, driven by a tyrant's hand?
Must we ask a mother's blessing from a strange and distant land?
Where the cruel cross of England shall never more be seen,
And where, please God, we'll live and die still wearin' o' the green.

According to these lyrics, the color red was ascribed to England. So far, I cannot find a tradition of red in Italy on St. Patrick's Day.

Irish and Irish American Recipes for St, Patrick's Day

I always enjoy this dish. For a chunkier version, just skip the blender step below. It's good with (or without) the nutmeg for another layer of flavor. You can also add cooked crumbled bacon as a garnish, bacon being the original meat served in the dish we now have as Corned Beef and Cabbage.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 medium or 4 large potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 2 oz butter (or olive oil)
• 1 Quart of vegetable stock
• 1 Cup whole milk
• 1 Tablespoon chopped chives
• Nutmeg to taste (optional)
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon of flour

INSTRUCTIONS

• Wash and peel potatoes and cut into quarters.
• Peel onion, cut in half and slice the halves thinly.
• Melt butter in a pot and add potatoes and onions; cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Do not allow onions to brown.
• Add stock, seasonings, and stir. Then cover and bring to boiling over medium-high heat (keep stirring).
• Reduce heat to low, simmer 30 minutes until vegetables are tender.
• Remove from heat and push through a sieve (or puree in your blender), back into the pot.
• Stir in milk and flour, raise heat and boil (keep stirring).
• Remove soup from burner and serve with garnish of chives.