Wonder why colors red and green are associated with Christmas? Find out here

Christmas is around the corner and it's hard to miss the city immersed in festive colours and decorations and cherishing the holiday spirit. According to reports, however, both red and green colours were initially used to celebrate a different festival. People used to grow red and green coloured holly plants with the belief that they were meant to keep the earth a beautiful place in the winter season. Ancient Celtic people decorated their houses with the holly plants to bring good luck upon their families for the entire year. They also decorated their homes with small figures known as sigillaria present on the boughs of evergreen trees.

Association dating back centuries

According to reports, the pairing of both the colours dates back to before the 14th century and continued well into the 14th century when both the colours were used in painting rood screens used in ancient church architectures. The screens were used to separate the area of the congregation and the priest. A research scientist was of the opinion that the separation of the areas could have led people to relate the colours with a different boundary, probably the mark of a year ending and the beginning of a new year on the day of Christmas. There are many Christians who are of the belief that the colours red and green were based on the life of Jesus, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas. According to reports, Green represents the immortality of Jesus and red showcases the bloodshed by the holy figure during his crucifixion.

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Popular Christmas carols

For many people, the festival of Christmas is incomplete without listening to or singing atmospheric and angelic carols. There are some cult favourite songs and carols that are played every year. But little did one know about the origin of the melodious songs. Here are a few fascinating backstories of popular Christmas carols.

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Silent night

This song has an interesting history attached to it. On Christmas Eve 1818, St. Nicholas church experienced an ill-fortune as the organ had stopped functioning and there was no possibility it could work again for the liturgy. However, Fr Joseph Mohr did not just give up and sing out a poem he had written many years ago. It was then that the carol “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht” (Silent Night! Holy Night) was heard for the first time in a village church in Oberndorf located in Austria.

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Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer

This song brings in a lot of nostalgia as this song is every child’s favourite. It invokes a feeling of hope that Santa Claus along with his team of reindeer, would be coming to place presents under the Christmas tree. 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer' was composed by the department store chain Montgomery Ward as an option to save money for their annual Christmas promotions.

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(With inputs from agencies)