Kelly green - the color of spring grass - that many wear on St. Patrick's Day only appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century. How did the connection between the Irish and Kelly green emerge?

During a time of anti-Catholic bias and orange-wearing Protestants, Irish Catholics wanted a symbolic color of their own. Meanwhile, the saint's lesson of the shamrock had become increasingly central to Irish Catholic identity.

At the same time, green had become associated with revolution, and the green flag, sometimes bearing the golden harp, became the symbol of the fiery Irish Home Rule movement, which sought independence from Britain. Now the flag of Ireland contains three colors - green symbolizes the Catholic nationalists, orange the Protestants, and white the peace it was hoped would reign between them.