The shamrock was traditionally used for medical properties and was popular motif in Victoria times.
The Shamrock is also used as a badge for sports teams, state organisations and troops abroad from Ireland. It is registered with the World Intellectual Property Organisation as a symbol of Ireland. According to what the Oxford English Dictionary calls "a late tradition" (first recorded in 1726), the plant was used by Saint Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. It has subsequently become an emblem of Ireland, but it is not the official one, which is the harp. The English word comes from Irish seamróg, meaning young clover.
