SHAMROCK  VS  CLOVER

 

                     

 

With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, the image that comes to my mind beside a leprechaun and Ireland’s patron saint, St. Patrick, is the green shamrock.

 

How many of you know the difference between a shamrock species of clover and the four-leaf kind? “Clover” is a generic term that refers to trefoils, or any of the 300 species that belong to the Trifolium family. These plants have leaves that are separated into three leaflets, but you may find four-leaf, five-leaf or even six-leaf clovers as a genetic abnormality.

 

 

“Shamrock,” on the other hand, comes from the Irish word, “seamrog,” and means “little plant.” It refers to the white clover species or the suckling clover species. Although a real shamrock only has three leaves, that doesn’t mean it’s not lucky. In Irish folklore, the number three is considered very lucky.

 

 

Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. It has been used as a symbol of Ireland since the 18^th century and is registered as a trademark by the Government of Ireland.

 

So, remember, shamrocks are clovers, but not all clovers are shamrocks.

 

 

Around our house in North Carolina grew large patches of clover and I loved to search for ones with four-leaves. Over time I had collected a few and still have a couple pressed between plastic. Did they bring me luck? Who knows, but like finding pretty sea shells on our Florida beaches, I enjoyed the challenge of the hunt!

 

Scientific studies have said that the odds of finding a single four-leaf clover is about one in 10,000.  However, when further analyzed, about a 5-foot square patch of clover could contain 10,000 sprigs and thus, one would have a chance of finding a four-leaf one.  

 

I’ll conclude this bit of clover trivia with the popular decades old song I would sing while searching for those illusive four-leaf clovers.

 

I'm looking over a four-leaf clover
I overlooked before
One leaf is sunshine, the second is rain
Third is the roses that grow in the lane

No need explaining, the one remaining
Is somebody I adore
I'm looking over a four-leaf clover
I overlooked before

A HISTORY OF OUR AMERICAN FLAG

 

First of all, on this, the 249^th year of our country’s Independence, I want to wish everyone a Happy 4^th of July!

Be sure to fly your American Flag proudly!

            Our first National Flag, the GRAND UNION FLAG, was displayed on January 1, 1776 in Boston by General George Washington, the organizer of the Colonial Army under the directive of the young Continental Congress.

For the colonists, the GRAND UNION FLAG signified their loyalty to the Crown of England and their New Union.

 

            The progress of the Revolution and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence soon outdated the symbolism of the GRAND UNION FLAG. On June 14,1777 the first congressional legislation creating an American flag was enacted.

“RESOLVED: that the flag of the United States be 13 stripes alternate red and white, that the Union be 13 stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation.” Thus, was born a new Nation under the STARS AND STRIPES.

            The NEW CONSTELLATION FLAG with its 13 stars and 13 stripes, represented the original thirteen founding states of the Union: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.

            Since the Flag Act of 1777 did not provide for the arrangement of the stars in the flag’s union, over 20-star designs have been documented for the NEW CONSTELLATION FLAG as being used in the eighteen-year period from 1777 through 1795.

This included the popular Betsy Ross design.

 

            January 13, 1794, President George Washington signed a bill that provided by Act of Congress, alterations in the Flag of the United States. The bill stated that on and after May1,1795, “the flag of the United States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white and that the union of fifteen stars, white in a blue field.”

 

This SECOND NATIONAL FLAG recognized two new states that had been admitted into the Union, Vermont and Kentucky.

 This new flag also inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, and was our national flag for nearly a quarter of a century until the year 1818.

 

            On April 4^th, 1818, President James Monroe signed a bill into law as “An Act To Establish The Flag Of The United States” which provided for “a return to a flag of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; and a Union to have twenty stars, white in a blue field.” The Act also provided “That on the admission of every new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take effect on the fourth of July succeeding such admission.”

            All succeeding design changes were due to the addition of stars to the flag’s union, upon admission of a new state to the Union.

The forty-eight star flag WAS THE LONGEST LIVED OF ALL THE Stars and Stripes with official status of 47 years, from 1912 to 1959. Eight American Presidents served in office under this flag and three wars were fought under its banner.

1960—PRESENT

The design of the Stars and Stripes as the National Flag of the United States of America is one of the longest in the history of any country in the world.