The mythology surrounding St. Patrick is rich with symbolism.
These are the symbols of St. Patrick.
Patrick is associated with numerous symbols some more famous than others.[1]
The Shamrock
The most famous St. Patrick symbol is the shamrock.
Patrick is said to have used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the idea of the holy trinity.[2]
The shamrock became one of Ireland's national symbols.[3]
Crosses
St. Patrick is associated with several styles of crosses.[4]
One type commonly associated with Patrick is the cross pattée.[5]
The cross pattée can be seen on the white stole on Patrick's vestments in this stained glass window.
Perhaps the most famous St. Patrick cross is one used on flags: St. Patrick's Saltire.[6]
It is used in the insignia of the Order of Saint Patrick, established in 1783 by King George III.
After the 1800 Acts of Union it was combined with Saint George's Cross of England and Saint Andrew's Cross of Scotland.[7]
St. Patrick has also been credited with bringing the Celtic cross to Ireland.[8]
There are no known Celtic crosses from St. Patrick's time.
Popular legend posits that Patrick combined the cross symbol of Christianity with the sun cross to impress pagan converts of the importance of the cross. These two ideas were linked to appeal to pagans. Another interpretation says that placing the cross on top of the circle represents Christ's supremacy over the pagan sun symbol.
St. Patrick’s Blue
The official color of Ireland in heraldic terms is azure blue.[9]
The association of blue with Saint Patrick dates from the 1780s, when it became the color of the Anglo-Irish Order of St Patrick. Like St. Patrick's Saltire, the association of blue with St. Patrick came from the establishment of the Anglo-Irish Order of St Patrick.
The Irish Presidential Standard - A gold harp with silver strings on field of blue. This shade of blue has been described "St. Patrick's Blue".
St Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle. Home of the Order of St. Patrick, Is carpeted in St. Patrick's blue.
There is no official Irish national color. Green is the de facto national color. The only rules about color are in the Irish Constitution regarding the national flag.[10]
St. Patrick’s Holy Wells
St. Patrick baptized a lot of Irish people. Often these baptisms took place at wells and springs that had been scared pagan sites.[11]
There are at least 25 holy wells associated with St. Patrick in Ireland and Northern Ireland. This St. Patrick's Holy Well is at Ogulla in County Roscommon.
Snakes
A famous myth involves Patrick driving snakes out of Ireland.[12]
Often this myth may be the only thing that many people know about St. Patrick.
There have been no snakes in Ireland since before the last ice age, 12,000 years ago.[13]
The Shepherd's Crook
St. Patrick is often depicted holding a shepherd's crook.[14]
A shepherd's crook is a long stick with a hook at one end used by shepherds to manage and catch sheep.
The crook symbolizes Patrick as a slave shepherd and as shepherd to his Christian followers.
References:
[1] St. Patrick's Day Facts: Snakes, a Slave, and a Saint Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine National Geographic
[2] Monaghan, Patricia (2009). The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1438110370.
[3] Hegarty, Neil (2012). Story of Ireland. Ebury Publishing. ISBN 978-1448140398.
[4]List of Saint Patrick's crosses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Saint_Patrick%27s_crosses
[5] "Ireland: St Patrick's Cross". Flags of the World. 6 June 2012.
[6]Galloway, Peter (March 1999). The most illustrious order: the Order of St Patrick and its knights. Unicorn. pp. 171–2. ISBN 9780906290231.
[7] "The Union Jack or The Union Flag?". The Flag Institute. 20 June 2014.
[8] "The History and Symbolism of the Celtic Cross – Irish Fireside Travel and Culture.
[9] Galloway, Peter (1999). The most illustrious Order: The Order of St Patrick and its knights (2nd ed.). London: Unicorn. p. 174. ISBN 0-906290-23-6.
[10] Article 7 of the Constitution of Ireland (1 July 1937)
[11] Ireland's ancient holy wells of Saint Patrick, Driscoll, Amanda, IrishCentral, 27 Jan. 2023https://www.irishcentral.com/travel/best-of-ireland/ireland-holy-well
[12] Roy Flechner (2019). Saint Patrick Retold: The Legend and History of Ireland's Patron Saint. Princeton University Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0-691-19001-3. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020
[13]Owen, James (13 March 2008). "Snakeless in Ireland: Blame Ice Age, Not St. Patrick". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012
[14] Caeremoniale Episcoporum (Vatican Polyglott Press, 1985)
Images
Patrick depicted with shamrock in detail of stained glass window in St. Benin's Church, Kilbennan, County Galway, Ireland, Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0
Shamrock, Creative Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Irish_clover.jpg
Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, and St. Patrick, Goleen, County Cork, Ireland, Andreas F. Borchert, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Goleen_Church_of_Our_Lady,_Star_of_the_Sea,_and_St._Patrick_North_Wall_Fourth_Window_Saint_Patrick_Detail_2009_09_10.jpg
A cross pattée, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Saint_Patrick%27s_crosses#/media/File:Cross-Pattee-Heraldry.svg
Saint Patrick's Flag, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Saint_Patrick%27s_crosses#/media/File:Saint_Patrick's_Saltire.svg
Flag of the United Kingdom, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Jack#/media/File:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg
Celtic Cross, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Saint_Patrick%27s_crosses#/media/File:CelticCross.svg
Badge of the Order of St Patrick, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick%27s_blue#/media/File:Badges_of_the_Order_of_St_Patrick.jpg
The Irish Presidential Standard, Setanta Saki, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick%27s_blue#/media/File:Flag_of_the_President_of_Ireland.svg
St Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle. Home of the Order of St Patrick, Adrian Grycuk, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick%27s_blue#/media/File:St._Patrick%E2%80%99s_Hall_Dublin_Castle_2014.JPG
Patrick banishing the snakes, Lyricmac, CC BY 2.5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick#/media/File:STP-ELP.jpg
The garter snake, Steve Jurvetson from Menlo Park, USA, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake#/media/File:Coast_Garter_Snake.jpg
Shepherd's crook, Auckland Museum, CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd%27s_crook#/media/File:Crook,_shepherd's_(AM_1958.105.1-2).jpg
A shepherd's crook, Arthur Hacker, Public Domain, https://archive.org/stream/artatsalonchamps00londrich#page/n103/mode/2up/search/Boughto,
