What Are the Christmas Colors in Italy
ARTS & CULTURE — Holidays
Have You Ever Wondered...
- Why are red and green traditional Christmas colors?
- What was Saturnalia?
- What were Miracle Plays?
Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by mia. mia Wonders, "Why are the Christmas colours red and green?" Thanks for WONDERing with us, mia!
Merry Christmas from all of us at Wonderopolis! What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? For some, it's brightly-wrapped presents sitting under the Christmas tree. Others think of special time spent with friends and family members celebrating the birth of Jesus. Others might envision Santa sliding down the chimney, where stockings are hung with care.
If you were to put your mental images of Christmas onto paper in the form of a drawing, chances are there are two crayons you'd use more than any others: red and green. For hundreds of years, red and green have been the traditional colors of Christmas. But why is that?
Although Christmas trees are green and Santa's suit and Rudolph's nose are red, these modern holiday decorations and characters weren't the inspiration for the colors we associate with Christmas. To find their root, we have to go much farther back in time.
Although no one knows for certain how and why red and green became so closely associated with Christmas, there are a few popular theories. Many Christians believe red and green were inspired by the life of Jesus, whose birth Christians celebrate on Christmas. Green, for example, represents the eternal life of Jesus Christ, just as evergreen trees remain green the whole winter long. Likewise, red represents the blood shed by Jesus Christ during his crucifixion.
Some scholars date the tradition of red and green at Christmas back to the 1300s, when churches would present Miracle Plays, religious plays that were meant to educate a largely-illiterate public who could not read the Bible.
One popular Miracle Play performed on Christmas Eve was called The Paradise Play. It told the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Those familiar with the story know that God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil. They did so anyway and were banished from paradise.
Since apple trees were barren in winter, churches would instead bring in pine trees and fasten apples to their branches to represent the Tree of Good and Evil. Over time, people began to duplicate this practice in their own homes, developing the tradition of the Christmas tree and using red and green as Christmas colors.
Many historians believe the practice of using red and green goes even farther back in history. They point to the ancient Roman celebration of Saturnalia, which honored the god Saturn and occurred each year between December 17 and December 23. During the celebration, Romans would decorate their homes with holly and place small figurines called sigillaria on the boughs of evergreen trees. Over time, the evergreen leaves and red berries came to symbolize the festive and merry season.
Wonder What's Next?
Tomorrow's Wonder of the Day is red, white, and sweet. Cane you guess what it is?
Try It Out
We hope you had a colorful Christmas! Be sure to check out the following activities with a friend or family member:
- Want to decorate outside the box this year and go beyond red and green? Check out 15 Spectacular Christmas Palettes Beyond Red and Green online for some fantastic, non-traditional color schemes. Which ones do you like the best? Share your favorites with a friend or family member and decorate different this year!
- If red and green are associated with Christmas, what colors come to mind when you think of other holidays? How about Halloween? Or Thanksgiving? Does Easter bring certain colors to mind? Discuss other holidays and their color schemes with a friend or family member. Why do you think certain colors are associated with other holidays?
- Up for a challenge? Make up your own holiday! It can be a celebration of anything you want it to be. Choose a date, figure out what and why you're celebrating, and then choose some colors to go along with your new holiday. How will you decide which colors to associate with your new celebration? What factors will you consider? Share your new holiday idea with friends and family members and get them to celebrate with you!
Did you get it?
Test your knowledge
Wonder Contributors
We'd like to thank:
abby, Anastasia, centora and Jason from IN
for contributing questions about today's Wonder topic!
Keep WONDERing with us!
What are you wondering?
Related Wonders for You to Explore
Quit Select a Word
Quit
Drag a word to its definition
Word Match
Select a Wonder Word:
suit
bough
evergreen
duplicate
crucifixion
decorate
nose
chimney
fruit
root
Word Match
Congratulations!
You've matched all of the definitions correctly.
Exit
Quiz Results
Not Bad
You have answered 0 of 3 questions correctly and your score is:
Share Results
What Are the Christmas Colors in Italy
Source: https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-are-red-and-green-traditional-christmas-colors