# Why is Green an unlucky colour? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-green-an-unlucky-colour/145244 "2002-12-27T22:22:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-green-an-unlucky-colour/145244/41 "2016-01-31T19:13:21Z")
I read once that L. Frank Baum was considering naming The Wizard Of Oz, The Emerald City Of Oz. His friend or publisher convinced him to change the name because supposedly books with “Emerald” in the name didn’t do well. Kind of ironic considering one of the sequels was named that. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-green-an-unlucky-colour/145244/42 "2016-01-31T21:13:22Z")
Last year, I read a book called **Green: The History of a Color** by Michel Pastoureau. He goes into lots of detail about all the superstitions about this color. Very interesting stuff. Ever read **Sir Gawain and the Green Knight**? Green was definitely associated with dangerous magic. It was also associated with (illicit) sex. “Greensleeves” refers to an unfaithful lover. The expression “to give a lass a green gown” referred to having intercourse outdoors. (Referring to grass stains, maybe?) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-green-an-unlucky-colour/145244/43 "2016-01-31T21:56:29Z")
What is well known is that in Ireland green is considered the color for Catholics and orange is considered the color for Protestants: > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! > **[Why Do We Wear Green On St. Patrick's Day?](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/st-patricks-day_n_1348003)** > > Why Do We Wear Green On St. Patrick's Day? [http://askville.amazon.com/color-green-Ireland-Irish/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=10065789](http://askville.amazon.com/color-green-Ireland-Irish/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=10065789) > **[St Patrick's Day: 5 facts about this most Irish of celebrations](https://www.livescience.com/27957-st-patricks-day-5-facts.html)** > > Why we wear green and other holiday curiosities. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-green-an-unlucky-colour/145244/44 "2016-01-31T22:57:34Z")
Possibly because the ancient Roman chariot races included teams of 4 colors; the traditional red & white teams and the vulgar newcomers, the blue & green teams. (The supporters of these two were fanatical, and engaged in the same kind of riotous behavior that we hear about from ‘football hooligans’ today.) Among the Green fanatics was the emperor Caligula (first emperor to try to conquer Britain) and the emperor Nero (who reigned when Britain was mostly conquered by Romans). Both of these emperors were derided as mad after their deaths (by theose who had killed them). Could any British animosity toward the color (colour) green possibly trace back this far? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-green-an-unlucky-colour/145244.md?page=2)