Why do some people wear orange instead of green on St. Patricks Day?
The traditional Irish colors of green, white and orange are said to stand for Catholic (green), Protestant (orange) and peace (white). The "Troubles" as they are often called are not strictly Catholic versus Protestant as is widely believed. Ireland has never accepted English rule and since most Irish are Catholic and most English, Protestant, the inaccurate commonly held belief by Americans and other countries is that their mutual disagreement is about religion. Since Northern Ireland (with its Protestant group, the Orangemen) is a part of Great Briton or the United Kingdom and Ireland itself is not, a troubled past has been well documented. Great Briton agreed recently to remove troops from Northern Ireland and for the most part, peace has finally come to the Emerald Isle. It is a safe and beautiful place to travel.
