Happy St. Patrick’s Day from ITS!

It’s that time of the year again! For many, St. Patrick’s Day is full of celebration, green beer and overindulgence. Hopefully you wore something green to save yourself from loads of pinching today! Where did that tradition of pinching on St. Patrick’s Day come from anyway?

A Brief History of St. Patrick’s Day

Just as people think Valentines Day was started by the greeting card industry, you may think St. Patrick’s Day was started by the beer industry. Saint Patrick was actually a real person who lived in Ireland around the 5th century and today marks his death which is considered a religious holiday in various countries around the world. Also, many don’t know that he wasn’t from Irish descent but was actually British.

There are many legends that surround St. Patrick and one of them was his use of shamrocks. It’s said that a shamrock of three leaves was used to illustrate the Holy Trinity. Throughout his life, he worked as a missionary and that he’s converted thousands in Northern Ireland to Christianity before his death.

While not an official holiday in America, March 17th is set as a day to remember St. Patrick and his work in Ireland. It’s also a day of feast and celebration of heritage & culture of the Irish.

The color green has been associated with Ireland for hundreds of years and wearing it on this day grew as a tradition mostly during the 19th and 20th century. As for pinching those not wearing green, there seems to be some confusion about where it actually came from. SFist.com uncovered this:

Forgot to wear green on St. Paddy’s Day? Don’t be surprised if you get pinched. No surprise, it’s an entirely American tradition that probably started in the early 1700s. St. Patrick’s revelers thought wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns, fairy creatures who would pinch anyone they could see (anyone not wearing green). People began pinching those who didn’t wear green as a reminder that leprechauns would sneak up and pinch green-abstainers.

An ITS St. “Patchrick’s” Day

In honor of today’s holiday, we wanted to show off a few photos of ITS gear (namely patches) in action that you all have sent in. As often as we can, we try to add photos shared on social media to our Pinterest board that have been tagged with #ITStactical. We love seeing our gear in your hands!

If you’re looking for some St. Patrick themed ITS Products, checkout the ITS Shamrock PVC Morale Patch and our St. Patricks Day Prevale T-Shirt in the ITS Shop!

Have a great St. Paddy’s Day!

@_mulls_

@extremecam

RESCO Instruments

@_d1s_

GORUCK

@mullsedc

Thanks to everyone who sent in pics! Looking for more photos? Check out the gallery below!

All of these were selected from our Pinterest ITS In Action board. Do you have some ITS gear that you’d like to show off? Be sure to use the hashtag #ITStactical on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!