Landmarks Worldwide ‘Go Green’ For St. Patrick’s Day

Did you know the color originally associated with St. Patrick was blue? The saint was said to have used the three-leaved shamrock, a green-colored clover, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. Today, the symbol and its color have become ubiquitous features of the holiday, which is celebrated worldwide by the Irish and their diaspora … plus anyone else looking for an excuse to consume copious amounts of alcohol, corned beef and cabbage.

Some famous landmarks have been “going green” for the holiday, including Las Vegas’ famous welcome sign (above), the Chicago river, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Niagara Falls, the London Eye, the Empire State Building in New York and the Sydney Opera House in Australia, among others. This year, for the first time ever, the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx in Egypt even changed their hue to celebrate the holiday.

Check out more images of landmarks bathed in green for St. Patrick’s Day after the jump.


Las Vegas’ welcome sign ringed in green bulbs for St. Patrick’s Day. [Photo credit: Courtesy the Las Vegas News Bureau]


In Chicago, the city’s namesake river has been turned green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day for more than 50 years. [Photo credit: AP Photo/Paul Beaty]


The London Eye lit up in green. [Photo credit: CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images]


[Top photo credit: SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images]

VIDEO: Chicago dyes river green for St. Patrick’s Day

Still recovering from St. Patrick’s Day? Here’s a time-lapse video of what you missed in Chicago, where thousands of people gathered to see the Chicago River as it was turned a radioactive shade of green (temporarily replacing its usual murky green). The tradition has been happening for more than 40 years to celebrate the holiday. It all went down at 10 a.m. on Saturday, just before the St. Patrick’s Day Parade marched through the city.

According to Dan Lydon, a former chairman and coordinator of Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Parade, the tradition began in 1961 when someone spotted local plumber Stephen Bailey’s coveralls splotched with bright green dye. When asked why his coveralls were stained with such an outrageous color, he explained that the dye used to detect waste leaking into the river was the same vibrant shade. From there a tradition was born and the river has been dyed shamrock green every year since. Read more about how and why the river is turned green at greenchicagoriver.com.