Trump shamrock mistake is common

CLOVER-MIX-UP

Sacred symbol confused with U.S. cereal image

U.S. President Donald Trump was made just a bit more unpopular in Ireland when his official website released a special St. Patrick’s Day version of his Make America Great Again hat.

On the rear of the green hat, rather than an Irish shamrock, was a four-leaf clover — a piece of foliage unrelated to Ireland or St. Patrick.

The hat was quickly taken down two weeks ago, but Trump’s merchandising people committed a St. Patrick’s Day sin that is surprisingly common to North America: shamrock ignorance.

The shamrock, of course, is a three-leaved sprig of clover used as a symbol of Ireland. The three leaves are critical because they represent the Holy Trinity.

In fact, the whole reason the shamrock is a symbol of the feast day is because St. Patrick reportedly used the plant as a teaching tool while Christianizing the Emerald Isle.

The four-leaf clover, meanwhile, is simply a rare and mutated adult clover. There is nothing uniquely Irish about the four-leaf clover, since Ireland is one of many Western cultures that see it as a good-luck charm alongside rabbit’s feet and horseshoes.

To a Canadian, the clover/ shamrock error is akin to discovering that a foreign country celebrates Canada Day with the leaves of the Japanese maple, rather than our actual national symbol of a stylized red maple leaf.

However, the misconception is so pervasive that Canada is littered with businesses that have the word “shamrock” in their titles, but have nevertheless included a fourleaf clover on their logo.

Even Guinness’ international affiliates are guilty. Last year, a Guinness ad in the Toronto subway made headlines across Ireland when it featured the maligned four-leaf clover.

It’s entirely likely that the confusion might be owed in large part to General Mills. Since 1964, its Lucky Charms cereal has featured four-leaf clovers as one of the featured marshmallows.

A four-leaf clover can also be seen attached to the cap of the cereal’s leprechaun mascot.

However, getting the foliage wrong is just one of many ways in which North America has distorted the celebration of Ireland’s patron saint.

Wearing green, drinking green lager and referring to the holiday as “St. Patty’s Day” are all strangely North American twists on Ireland’s national celebration on March 17.

Also, St. Patrick didn’t drive any snakes out of Ireland. He was a former slave who converted an island of Celtic warriors to an entirely new belief system.