Here’s Why Some People Wear Orange—Not Green

St. Patrick’s Day is filled with rich traditions, from eating corned beef to attending parades. If you venture outside to celebrate the holiday—perhaps to swing by a pub for a pint of Guinness—you’re bound to find yourself amid a sea of people wearing green. While most St. Patrick’s Day enthusiasts bust out their green clothing on March 17, there are some who would rather wear orange. The reason has everything to do with religion.

St. Patrick’s Day is a Roman Catholic feast day that began in 1631. It celebrates the patron saint of Ireland—even though St. Patrick wasn’t actually Irish. Irish Catholic tradition has strong associations with the color green, which is why you’ll often see people sporting it to celebrate the holiday. But not every Irish person is Catholic. Some are Protestant and wear orange to honor William of Orange, a Protestant who deposed King James II, a Roman Catholic, in 1688.

The national flag of Ireland represents both religions. According to Britannica, the green side of the tricolored flag represents Roman Catholics, while the orange part stands for Protestants. The white center symbolizes peace and unity between the religions.

You may also wonder why people get pinched for not wearing green. Many sources, including National Geographic, suggest that the pinching trend stems from folklore about leprechauns. According to the legend, the fairies can’t see people wearing green. Therefore, those individuals cannot be pinched. However, Elizabeth Stack, the executive director of the American Irish Historical Society, told History that the pinching phenomenon probably originated in America, rather than in Ireland.

Neither green nor orange were originally associated with St. Patrick. The 5th-century missionary and bishop actually sported sky blue and even had a light blue shade named after him. It wasn’t until the Irish independence movement that green became associated with March 17.

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