Christmas is the festival which is celebrated world-wide with equal vigour and zeal. The practice of putting up special decorations at Christmas has a long history. The traditional colors of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red. Gold and silver are also very common, as are other metallic colours. Typical images on Christmas decorations include Baby Jesus, Father Christmas, Santa Claus, and the star of Bethlehem. Many of the traditional symbols of Christmas transcend cultures and continents, including Christmas trees, gifts, ornaments to name a few.
Each of these traditional Christmas symbols has a fascinating history that explains how it worked its way into the hearts of millions of people. Some of the popular Christmas symbols and their meanings are listed below.
Santa Claus
The whole image of Santa Claus aroused from the famous Saint Nicolas. Many legends and miracles are attributed to Saint Nicholas, depicted as Santa Clause, a stout figured character wearing red coat and trouser. The transformation of Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus happened largely in America – with inspiration from the Dutch. Saint Nicolas, as a child was well known for his generosity.
Christmas Trees
Christmas trees are often central to decorating schemes. They are evergreen and won’t turn brown during winter making them a symbol of eternity. They also point towards heaven bringing out the religious aspects of the holiday.
Candles
There are several unique reasons why candles are linked with Christmas, even though no one knows when they became correlated in the first place. They were used at the time of the age old winter solstice galas as a way of recollecting that spring would arrive soon.
Doves
Doves are meant to be messengers of peace on earth coming from Jesus.
The Star
A popular symbol for the top of the tree, a star represents the star that appeared on the night of Jesus’s birth.
Bells
A long time ago, people were under the impression that they could use bells to scare away evil spirits. Bells were a hassle free form of noise-making. The custom of using sound makers like bells at these times escalated over into the celebration of Christmas. But people made noise to laud something happy, instead of making noise to shoo away evil things.
Christmas Cards
It’s a common Christmas custom to send Christmas cards to friends and family every year, often with a photo of your family and/or a note detailing the highlights of their year.
Lights
Lights are used to represent the star of David that appeared in Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. Many also think of them as a way to remind us to follow Christ’s path.
Angels
Angels represent the role they played in the birth of Jesus Christ. Several angels appear in the biblical story of the first Christmas. Gabriel, the archangel of revelation, informs the Virgin Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus.
Mistletoe
Mistletoe is an evergreen partial parasitic plant, which grows on the branches of trees, where it forms pendent bushes, 2 to 5 feet in diameter. It sends out roots which penetrate into the tree and take up nutrients. Many mystical power is been associated with this plant.
Snowflakes
Snowflakes are a symbol of the cold winter and represent purity.
Stockings
Stockings are another popular symbol of Christmas. However, they don’t represent much more than what they actually are. They date as back as far as 1823 (at least) when they were mentioned in the poem, “A Visit from Santa Claus’. They are traditionally hung by the fireplace to accept presents from Santa Claus.
Presents
Giving presents at Christmas reminds us of the presents given to Jesus by the Wise Men.