What Is the Meaning of Each Advent Candle and Its Color?

You may have seen an Advent wreath at church or in someone’s home before Christmas, but have you wondered why the candles are different colors? Are you aware that there is meaning to each color, and each plays an integral role in centering our hearts and minds on the true meaning of the holiday?

Instead of rushing through December with holiday preparations, why not take time to appreciate a special visual reminder of God’s gifts to us, demonstrated by the colors of Advent wreath candles?  Understanding the themes those colors represent can help to reignite our awe of the incarnation of Jesus, and excite our souls for his second coming.  

The Church fathers of old certainly understood the value in taking this season more slowly and deliberately.  During the fourth and fifth century A.D., they determined that the Church needed a season of soul preparation before Christmas was to be celebrated. Advent began as a time of repentance and preparation for those who were to be baptized on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany (the tradition of colored candles standing in an Advent wreath came hundreds of years later).  According to Laura Richie’s article, “The Meaning and Symbolism of the Advent Wreath and Candles,” Advent “... gradually developed into a season that stretched across the month of December.” The season was named “Advent,” which means “coming” or “arrival.” It not only prepares Christians to honor God’s gift of a long-awaited Messiah–born as a baby–but also prepares them for His second coming in glory as King of kings and Lord of lords.

When Is Advent and What Is the History of Colored Advent Candles?

Every year, Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas. The season is almost universally recognized and celebrated by Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians, who share many of the same traditions on Sunday and throughout the week. One such tradition is the lighting of Advent candles–often four colored tapers standing within an evergreen wreath–that together represent how Jesus’ birth illuminated a dark world.

Richie also speaks in her article about the origins of the Advent wreath, which “first appeared in Germany in 1839. A Lutheran minister working at a mission for children created a wreath out of the wheel of a cart. He placed twenty small red candles and four large white candles inside the ring. The red candles were lit on weekdays, and the four white candles were lit on Sundays.”

What Are the Advent Wreath Candle Colors Today?

Modern-day Advent candle colors usually include three purple candles symbolizing hope, faith, and peace, one pink candle for joy, and a central white candle, known as the Christ candle, which is lit on Christmas Eve to celebrate the arrival of Jesus.

In his article “Advent Wreath: Meaning, Symbolism, Purpose of Advent Candles,” Joel Ryan delves more into the meaning of the Advent candle colors: “The color of these candles can vary, but it is common for the first, second, and fourth candles to be purple, while the third is rose-colored, red, or a pinkish hue. In some cases, all the candles are red, blue, or white; often, a fifth white candle is placed in the middle of the wreath and lit on Christmas Day itself.” On the first Sunday, one candle is lit; on the second Sunday the first and second candle are lit, and so on. By the time Christmas arrives, the wreath is a bright beacon of light in honor of our Savior.

Each colored candle represents a designated theme for that Sunday. The theme is also represented in the readings that liturgical churches worldwide read on that day.  During other days of the week throughout Advent, there are appointed readings that include an Old Testament, Psalm, New Testament, and Gospel passage. Some churches offer a daily service that includes these readings, while others provide them to the congregation to share at home with family. Some churches also encourage families to create their own Advent wreaths at home with colored candles that children can help light and learn about their meaning.

Advent Week 1: Purple Candle Means Hope

During the first week, a purple candle represents hope, and is also known as the Prophet’s Candle, as one of the readings this day is from an Old Testament prophet about the coming Messiah. For example, in 2024, the first Sunday reading in the Catholic Church will be from Jeremiah: “In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land” (Jeremiah 33:15). The three purple candles in the wreath also signify royalty.

Advent Week 2: Purple Candle Means Faith

For the second Sunday, another purple candle represents faith and is also called Bethlehem’s Candle, reminding us of Joseph and Mary’s arduous journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem where Jesus was to be born. In some churches, one of the readings this week will be from the Song of Zechariah in Luke 1: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David.”

Advent Week 3: Pink Candle Means Joy

The third Sunday differs from the first two in that the candle is rose or pink and represents joy. It is also referred to as the Shepherd’s Candle, as we are encouraged to rejoice like the shepherds did on that first Christmas. On this day, some churches will be reading from Isaiah 12:2-6: “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. In that day you will say: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

Advent Week 4: Purple Candle Means Peace

Finally, on the fourth Sunday of Advent, we light another purple candle signifying peace, reminding us that Jesus is our Prince of Peace. This candle is also called the Angel’s Candle, encouraging us to sing “Glory to God in the highest” in our hearts. Some churches’ readings for this Sunday will be Luke 1:26-38 when the birth of Jesus was foretold to Mary by the angel Gabriel. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32-38). 

Sometimes there is a fifth white candle which sits in the middle of the wreath, called the Christ candle. This candle represents the holiness of Christ.

How Can an Advent Wreath and Candles Help Us Prepare for Christmas? 

The lighting of an Advent candle once a week gives us a tangible way to focus on the light of Christ, but also encourages us to slow down and truly consider what he has done and is going to do. It’s a period of waiting–remembering how the Hebrew people waited hundreds of years for their Messiah, and how we long for Jesus to return and end our waiting for his Second Coming. While we reflect on this waiting during Advent, an Advent wreath and candles can help us focus on some of the gifts he came to bring us as we reflect on hope, faith, joy, peace, and light. 

A great practice is to take time out each evening (or when your family is together) and light the week’s candle and read the readings provided by your church or online. Talk to each other about how you feel about that theme. How does Jesus give us hope? What kind of peace does he promise? How can we revel in the joy of the Lord when times are tough, and how can we spend more time with him to build our faith? You can also find other verses in the Bible that talk about these themes and then use those verses in your prayers back to God.

An Advent Prayer for You and Your Family

Most merciful God, we give thanks to you for the gift of the Advent season, because it causes us to focus on the greatest gift you could have ever given us. We open our hearts again this year to receive the baby born in Bethlehem. Lord, we are humbled by his humility in coming as a baby and experiencing everything that we experience. Thank you Lord that through Jesus we see you and how much you love us. Please forgive us the sins that Jesus took with him to the cross and please protect us from the enemy who would want to steal our joy in you. We recognize that Advent also has us looking forward to the day when you will send Jesus back to earth to make all things new. We groan and long for the day Abba Father, and thank you that we have the opportunity at this time of the year to hide these things in our hearts to give us hope. 

The Meaning and Symbolism of theAdvent Wreath and Candles
Advent Wreath: Meaning, Purpose, Symbolism of Advent Candles

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Natalia Semenova

Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).