Why Would I Wear Orange on Saint Patrick’s Day?

When most people think of Saint Patrick’s Day, they think green. Green shirts, green hats, green rivers, and plenty of other novelty green junk to give Target a boost in sales. But some people wear orange on Saint Patrick’s Day. Why?

The answer has less to do with Patrick and more to do with Irish history.

The color orange is tied to William of Orange, the Protestant king who defeated the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Over time, “orange” became a symbol of Protestant identity in Ireland.

So if green came to represent Irish Catholic identity and nationalism, orange came to represent Irish Protestant identity.

That is also why the Irish flag includes both green and orange, with white in between. The point was to symbolize peace between those two communities.

So why would someone wear orange on Saint Patrick’s Day?

I had an Irish friend who had one Protestant parent and one Roman Catholic. His childhood was a bit like the flag. As an adult and a born-again Christian, he wore orange on Saint Patrick’s Day. Wearing orange is a way of saying that Irish identity is not exclusively green, Catholic, or nationalist. It is a reminder that Ireland has long been home to Protestants too, and that its history is more complicated than the sentimental version served with corned beef and green beer.

That being said, wearing orange may be about more than religious affections. For some, green and orange is political. It may be read as a statement about identity, allegiance, and history. So, a person wearing orange on March 17 may be making a historical, political, or religious point, or all three.

In the end, wearing orange on Saint Patrick’s Day is not really about Patrick. It is about the contested story of Ireland itself. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!