Emoji dictionary

☘️ Shamrock emoji

sham-rok ih-moh-ji ]

What does the ☘️ Shamrock emoji mean?

The Shamrock emoji ☘️ depicts a three-leafed sprig of the shamrock plant. As the shamrock is the national emblem of Ireland, the Shamrock emoji ☘️ is widely used in association with Irish culture, identity, and heritage, especially on St. Patrick’s day each year on March 17.

Related words

🇮🇪 Flag of Ireland emoji, 🌈 Rainbow emoji

Where does ☘️ Shamrock emoji come from?

The Shamrock emoji ☘️ was approved under Unicode 4.1 in 2005 and Emoji 1.0 in 2015. Be sure not to confuse the Shamrock emoji ☘️ with the Four Leaf Clover emoji 🍀, which has four lobes. While both the Irish and four-leaf clovers are associated with good luck, the Four Leaf Clover emoji 🍀 is not a symbol of Ireland.

Now for a bit of history:

Legend has it that, in the fifth century, St. Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Christian concept of the trinity (God the father, son, and Holy Spirit, all in one) on his mission in Ireland, where the plant plentifully grows. By the 1600s, the story inspired the use of the shamrock as an emblem for St. Patrick, and, because the saint became so closely identified with the country, a symbol for Ireland as a whole.

Examples of ☘️ Shamrock emoji

GameDay! Beat Wake Forest ☘️ 🏀
@herecometheiris, February 29, 2020
I don’t like leap day because it makes me wait an extra day for St Patrick’s month to start ☘️
@mike_mcginnity, February 29, 2020

Who uses ☘️ Shamrock emoji?

In text messages and social media, the Shamrock emoji ☘️ (sometimes called the St. Patrick’s Day emoji) is used to observe the holiday on or around March 17. Expect it to be paired (if mistakenly) with the Four Leaf Clover emoji 🍀, the Rainbow emoji 🌈, the Flag of Ireland emoji 🇮🇪, and, due to American drinking traditions on St. Patrick’s Day, the Beer Mug emoji 🍺.

Given its symbolic associations with Irish people and culture, many people in and outside Ireland use the Shamrock emoji ☘️ when talking about or taking pride in Irish life.

The Shamrock emoji ☘️ is commonly used to rep the Irish-styled NBA team, the Boston Celtics, or Notre Dame University’s Fighting Irish teams as well.

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Note

This is not meant to be a formal definition of ☘️ Shamrock emoji like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of ☘️ Shamrock emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.