From my French counterpart comes this interesting explication of the colors behind the Irish flag. Given our latest giveaway (which it’s not too late to enter!), I thought it might be fun to do a quick translation:

Synonym of Hope or Satisfaction, green is the color associated with nature and spring. Linked to water, green is the rebirth of nature, growth, youth, and experience. It is the early learning of life, “green youth,” as well as its continuity, “he’s still green.” A feminine color, green is mild, welcoming, as spring nature. It generates knowledge and, therefore, justice. This notion of growth and justice explains the green hats that bishops wore in the Middle Ages, the pastors guiding in the green pasture, but also the green hats of doctors and apothecaries for their use of plants, and the color has stayed with pharmacists in the army. In the Celtic mythology, the blissful island, Ireland, was called Erin, a poetic name for green.

Energy, enthusiasm, imagination, and fidelity… orange is a symbol of the point of equilibrium for the mind and the libido, half-way between red and yellow and between the rational and moderation. From this notion comes the draped dress of the Buddhist monks and the orange cross of the sacred saints’ knights. The veil of the fiancés, the flammuneu is “the emblem of the perpetuity of marriage.” The muses used to wear saffron, just like the veil of Helen.

Thanks to our product manager, Cecilia, for her help with the translation!