St Patrick's blue is a name often mistakenly applied to several shades of blue associated with Ireland. The official colour of Ireland in heraldic terms is azure blue. The colour blue's association with Saint Patrick dates from the 1780s, when it was adopted as the colour of the Anglo-Irish Order of St Patrick. The term refers to a sky blue used by the Order of St Patrick, often confused in Ireland with a darker, rich blue.[1][2] There is no de jure national colour in Ireland, with the only reference to any colour(s) appearing in Article 7 of the Irish Constitution in regards to the national flag.[3] However, while green is the de facto national colour of Ireland, representing Ireland in many sporting, cultural, and business events, azure blue is still found in symbols of both the state and the island.[4]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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"BOOK REVIEW: O'TOOLE, Wing Commdr. E. H. Decorations and Medals of the Republic of Ireland". Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin. B.A. Seaby: 41. 1973.
[Describing the ribbons of] the Service Medal, and the Reserve Defence Forces Service Medal, as "St. Patrick's blue" seems strange to British collectors, to whom the description means a very pale, slightly greenish blue, but perhaps the Irish attribute a rich dark blue to their patron saint.
- ^ Article 7 of the Constitution of Ireland (1 July 1937).
- ^ Ó Cuív, Brian (1976). "The Wearing of the Green". Studia Hibernica (17–18): 106–119.