http://www.donegalassoc-csc.com/celtic_symbols.htm

The Shamrock, The Four Leaf Clover,
The Celtic Cross & The Tri-Colour


Celtic Football Club in it's history has been identified or associated
with the following symbols; The Celtic Cross, The Shamrock, The Four
Leaf Clover and the Irish Tri-Colour Flag.

Below is a short description of what the symbolism actually represents
and where it fits in with Celtic.

The Celtic Cross

The Celtic cross is widely used as Christian symbol, but as we can tell
from its name, the cross has a history stretching further back than
Christianity. For example, its four arms are interpreted as the four
elements (earth, air, fire, water), the four directions of the compass
(north, south, east, west) or the four parts of man (mind, soul, heart,
body), in various cultures and traditions.

An Irish legend tells how St. Patrick created the first Celtic cross by
drawing a circle over a Latin cross to incorporate a pagan moon goddess
symbol. For an Irish Catholic, the circle in the Celtic cross may be a
symbol of eternity and the endlessness of God's love. It can even
represent a halo emanating from Christ.

The Christian & Marist Brothers have used the Celtic Cross as their
crest.

Celtic founded by Br.Walfrid a Marist Brother, had the Celtic Cross, as
the crest on the first strip. The Celtic Cross made an appearance again
in the centenary year shirt and in 2003, to celebrate 100 years of the
hoops.



The Shamrock & The Four-Leaf Clover


In Irish tradition the Shamrock or Three-leaf Clover represents the Holy
Trinity: one leaf for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy
Spirit. When a Shamrock is found with the fourth leaf, it represents
God's Grace.

The mystique of the four leaf clover continues today, since finding a
real four leaf clover is still a rare occurrence and omen of good luck.

The plants that produce our four-leaf clovers are Trifolium repens,
White Clover. Although, the plants mainly produce the common three-leaf
clover (or Shamrock), the 'lucky' four-leaf clovers are not uncommon.

"Wearin' o' the green"

The shamrock became symbolic in other ways as time went on. In the 19th
century it became a symbol of rebellion, and anyone wearing it risked
death by hanging. It was this period that spawned the phrase "the
wearin' o' the green".

Do you know that there is no such thing as a "Shamrock Plant"? The word
shamrock comes from the Irish word "seamrog" meaning "little clover".

The original Irish shamrock (traditionally spelled seamróg, which means
"summer plant")

Another way of identifying a real four-leaf clover is that the fourth
leaf is usually smaller than the other three leaves.

Belfast Celtic presented one of the best away strips ever to be worn by
Celtic, a white strip, with a green collar and a large green shamrock as
the crest. This was worn in the 1950's.

The corner flags at Celtic Park until the 1980's had shamrock on a white
background.

Perhaps the most famous episode involving the shamrock involved Irish
Patriot
Michael Davitt.

The first sod of real Irish shamrocks, of the new ground of 1892 was
laid by the famous Irishman. To commemorate the occasion, a poem
appeared in one of the Catholic papers of the day.

On alien soil like yourself I am here;
I'll take root and flourish, of that never fear,
And though I'll be crossed sore and oft by the foes
You'll find me as hardy as a Thistle or a Rose.
If model is needed on your own pitch you will have it,
Let your play honour me and my friend Michael Davitt.

A souvenir hunter or vandal carried off that Donegal sod, so its
shamrocks never bloomed, but what befell the one who removed the turf no
man knoweth.

He carried however, forever the weight of poet's wrath, as when it
became known the following verse was published:

The curse of Cromwell blasts the hand that stole the sod that Michael
cut;
May all his praties turn to sand-the crawling, thieving scut?
That precious site of Irish soil with verdant shamrocks overgrown
Was token of a glorious soil more fitting far than fretted stone.
Again I say, may Heaven blight that envious, soulless knave;
May all his sunshine be like night and the sod rest heavy on his grave.

The Four-Leaf Clover has been the main crest of Celtic since the mid
1970's and has appeared on every jersey since that time.



Irish Tri-Colour

The three vertical stripes are a visual reminder of Ireland's political
landscape. The tricolour flag symbolizes the two opposing groups in
Ireland, and the hope of lasting peace between them.

The green represents the Irish, mainly Catholic nationalists and their
stand for independence from the United Kingdom. In revolutionary America
and France, Liberty Trees were planted to symbolize the establishment of
a new society based upon the ideals and aspirations of democracy.
Therefore, Green is commonly the colour associated with freedom.

Green was also the colour the Irish Catholics always used in the flags
they rose during their struggles to end English rule over the Land.

Orange represents the Protestants of Ireland, or the Loyalists, who
remain loyal subjects to the Crown in the United Kingdom.

They have also used this colour for centuries, in honour of William of
Orange's defeat of Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in
1690. After William of Orange defeated King James II, the Protestants
dominated most of Ireland for centuries.

Although the tricolour wasn't adopted as the official flag of the land
until after Ireland became a Free State in 1921, the Irish flag as we
know it today has been around as a symbol for a long time. It was first
unfurled by Thomas F. Meagher, a member of the Young Ireland Movement in
1848.

His own words explain best what the meaning of the colour White is in
the flag. It is the hope of every good Irish man and woman that the
words of young Mr. Meagher will hold true:

"The white in the center signifies a lasting truce between the "Orange"
and the "Green," and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of the
Irish Protestant and the Irish Catholic may be clasped in generous and
heroic brotherhood.

Celtic today still flies the Irish tri-colour high over Celtic Park. The
most famous incident almost in 1952 when Celtic came within one vote of
being expelled from the SFA because it refused to haul down the Irish
flag, till then fluttering from the flagpole above the Jungle as a
tribute to most of the club's founders but largely neglected and ignored
by those attending Celtic Park.

The campaign - and it was a campaign - was led by the long-time
secretary of the SFA George Graham, later knighted 'for his services to
football'. Desmond White once said: 'He'll roast in Hell for what he
tried to do to Celtic.' Objective football men and with no connection to
Celtic have also described him as 'a bigot', and it was clear that he
was orchestrating the attacks on Celtic with acquiescent members of the
SFA following his lead.



Gordy