--- title: Trump St. Patricks Day Clover Hat Internet Backlash description: The green "Make America Great Again" hats are being sold to celebrate St. Patrick's Day—and feature a symbol that's come under scrutiny. canonical: https://time.com/4693363/trump-st-patricks-day-hats/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-07T16:48:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:34.319Z og:title: The Internet Found Something Off About Trump's New Hats og:description: The green "Make America Great Again" hats are ruffling some Irish feathers. og:url: https://time.com/4693363/trump-st-patricks-day-hats/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Found Something Off About Trump's New Hats twitter:description: The green "Make America Great Again" hats are ruffling some Irish feathers. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The Internet Found Something Off About Trump's Official New Hats > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=55f86b42-c8ee-4482-a80d-3da4073b28c9&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Shamrock Pancakes [Watch (HLS stream): Shamrock Pancakes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PKIwkcon.m3u8) (1:18)  _Published 2016-04-06. You're all set for a lucky day when you start your morning with shamrock-shaped pancakes._ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 7, 2017 4:48 PM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Mar 7, 2017 4:48 PM UTC President Donald Trump’s bright red [“Make America Great Again”](http://time.com/money/4025415/tom-brady-donald-trump-hat/) hats are an emblem of his presidential campaign and became a uniform for supporters, transforming into a symbol of the president’s goal and everyman aesthetic. In advance of [St. Patrick’s Day](http://time.com/4261456/st-patrick-day-2016-history-real-saint/), which is March 17, the Trump team has been selling a new version of the crimson topper, however: a green one. Emblazoned with the same slogan, the ostensibly Irish-influenced option was an attempt to include a [nod to the holiday](http://time.com/3744055/america-invented-st-patricks-day/) in the form of a [four-leaf clover](http://time.com/4262715/st-paddys-day/) printed on the back of the cap. But as the internet has pointed out, that the four-leaf clover on Trump’s official hats is not, actually, an Irish symbol. In fact, four-leaf clovers—while considered lucky—have [nothing to do with Ireland at all](http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/17/st-patricks-day-2016-the-difference-between-a-shamrock-and-a-four-leaf-clover-5758043/). The _real_ symbol of Ireland is the shamrock, which has only three leaves. As might be expected, the internet is calling out Trump’s team for the symbol. > [](https://twitter.com/TeamTrump/status/837364114884333569) > [](https://twitter.com/GNAdv/status/838908333641826305) > [](https://twitter.com/HairyBabyTees/status/839117172442034176) > [](https://twitter.com/Steve%5Fmjt/status/837546315357675522) > [](https://twitter.com/gregomeara/status/837423618955087872) > [](https://twitter.com/Willzinator/status/838904415209803777) The internet also [called out Guinness Canada](http://Guinness has come under fire http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2016/03/16/note-to-guinness-shamrock-is-not-four-leaf-clover.html) for the beer company’s use of the four-leaf clover for St. Patrick’s Day festivities last year. Trump’s hats, which were [also promoted](https://twitter.com/GOP/status/837774275901816836) by the official GOP Twitter account, are [still available for $50 each](https://shop.donaldjtrump.com/products/official-make-america-great-again-green-hat?utm%5Fcampaign=GOP%5Fadministration%5Fofficial-make-america-great-again-green-hat&utm%5Fsource=Twitter&utm%5Fmedium=social) on the Trump-Pence website. This is not the first re-vamp that the hat design has experienced: After he was elected, Trump [wore a different style](http://time.com/4583951/donald-trump-new-hat/) with a large “U.S.A.” printed on the front and the number “45” stitched on the side; that style, and others featuring camouflage fabric and an inaugural gold seal, are now for sale on his site. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4693363/trump-st-patricks-day-hats/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4693363/trump-st-patricks-day-hats/"},"headline":"The Internet Found Something Off About Trump's Official New Hats","datePublished":"2017-03-07T16:48:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:34.319Z","description":"The green \"Make America Great Again\" hats are being sold to celebrate St. Patrick's Day—and feature a symbol that's come under scrutiny.","url":"https://time.com/4693363/trump-st-patricks-day-hats/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4693363/trump-st-patricks-day-hats/","name":"The Internet Found Something Off About Trump's Official New Hats"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Shamrock Pancakes","description":"You're all set for a lucky day when you start your morning with shamrock-shaped pancakes.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PKIwkcon/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-06T23:26:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PKIwkcon.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4693363/trump-st-patricks-day-hats/","duration":"PT1M18S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4693363/trump-st-patricks-day-hats/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```