COLORS OF CHRISTMAS

When we think of Christmas, we think of the colors red and green.

Ancient Romans celebrated the god of agriculture, Saturnalia, with parties, eating and drinking in the weeks leading up to the Winter Solstice.    They decorated their homes with holly greens and decorated fir trees with fruit to symbolize their bountiful crops and prosperity.  (Yesterday was the Northern Hemisphere's Winter Solstice that celebrated the shortest day of 2024 and the first day of winter.)

In the Middle Ages, red was worn by nobility, and green was worn by merchants and bankers and the class of people next below the nobility in position and birth.

Red was the first color humans mastered, and it dominated the visual cultures for centuries.  Even today, red works of art bring the highest prices at auctions.

Wrapping presents in red and green conveys the spirit of the season.  Red wrapping paper represents the joy and love shared during the holidays, and green signifies hope and new beginnings.  

Over the years, other colors including blue, yellow and white, were added to the strings of Christmas tree lights. 

Gold and silver adds glitter and sparkle to home decors and accentuates the other colors.  Gold was one of the Magi gifts.  Tinsel was originally made of shredded silver and was invented in Nuremberg, Germany in 1610.  Gold and silver are the most widely recognized precious metals.

Blue hues of dye were extremely rare and expensive in biblical times.  Only the wealthy could afford them.  Blue is also associated with winter ice, snow and the heavens above.

Yellow reminds us of the Christmas Star, the celestial phenomenon that guided the three Magi to Bethlehem.  Interestingly, when blue is mixed with yellow, the mixture of the two becomes green.

White has long been associated with peace in many cultures.  As a historical reminder, let's think back to the Pearl Harbor attack that happened on December 7, 1941.  Americans gathered around their radios to hear the news broadcast that we were at war.  By the following winter, American troops found themselves overseas during the holidays.  The Armed Forces played "White Christmas" over and over to remind them of home.