Red and green should always been seen…
There are many colours that are traditionally associated with the festive season. Red, green and gold are the most popular. But do you know why we use these colours at Christmas?
Green
For thousands of years Mistletoe, Ivy and of course Holly have been used to decorate homes, businesses…well…everywhere. These bright green plants are a reminder that no matter how dark and cold the Winter gets, Spring is always just around the corner.
During the middle ages, most of Europe performed Paradise plays, mostly on Christmas Eve. The ‘Paradise Tree’ in the garden of Eden in the play is normally a pine tree with red apples tied to it. In Roman times, evergreen branches were exchanged as a sign of good luck. And in ancient Egyptian times, palm branches were brought into house during the winter months.
Red
The colour red is used in Christmas decorations to symbolism the red apples on the Paradise tree. Red is also the colour of Holly berries which is said to also have represented the blood of Jesus when he died on the cross.
Gold
Gold is used to during the festive period to represent both the Sun and light. Things that tend to go missing in the long winter months! The mix of red and gold also gives across the feeling of warmth and a nice fire on a cold winters evening. Gold is of course one the presents brought to baby Jesus by one of the wise men. It also shows the colour of the star the men followed on their journey.
