HOW DID RED AND GREEN BECAME THE COLORS OF CHRISTMAS

The red and green colors of Christmas have a long and rich history rooted in both Christianity and paganism. Did you ever wonder why this is so? One can speculate why these colors were first associated with Christianity.

The green comes from evergreens. It was used in ancient time to celebrate the winter solstice. In the early days, Romans set aside the days from 17^th December to 25^th December as special holidays to celebrate Saturn- the God of agriculture. In this celebration, they exchange greenery such as holly and ivy which was a way to wish one another long life, peace and good luck. But the early Christians or Roman Catholic Church stamp this pagan ritual with a more spiritual emphasis. The pagan ritual of winter solstice merged with the celebration of Christ’s birth and evergreen continued to be used. In winter solstice evergreen symbolizes the life that survived through the long darkness of winter. Perhaps the Christian symbolizes it with the hope of eternal life that Jesus offers. From this the red color also became the scared color associated with Christ sacrifice.

According to the history, back in the 1300s, Adam and Eve’s day was celebrated on Christmas Eve. In those days, churches presented plays which focused on the biblical stories and were called miracle plays as most of the people were illiterate. These plays mostly performed on Adam Eve’s days in paradise and what happened in the Garden of Eden. In the plays, pine tree with tying red apples served as the tree that bore the forbidden fruit as the apple tree wasn’t available in the winter. Eventually, the pine tree with red apples became a tradition in Christmas celebration every year. Thus, the use of red and green colors LED waterproof light sets became the most popular explanation.

Green color also symbolizes the hope the Jesus gave through his scarifies and the color of evergreens stay alive for the whole year. Red is said to be the color of Christ and his crucifixion. It was shed by Jesus to wash away all the humanity sins and to save them. So the combination of red and green colors exposes the hope of the redemption through Christ crucifixion.

Red is also the color of bishop ropes which have been worn by Saint Nicholas and then became Santa Clause uniform. Holly, the most popular Christmas decoration, combines with green leaves and red berries. Christmas wreaths are also decorated with red bows and red berries. Even the nose of the Rudolph- the Reindeer, is of red color. These colors will stay here and always be represented as the Christmas holiday colors.