Why Are Red and Green Such Prominent Colors during Christmas?

When I think of the Christmas décor and clothing, even down to the coffee mugs, red and green are both regularly incorporated this time of year. When did these colors start making their appearance? How did this color combo gain the recognition of Christmas colors?

According to Arielle Eckstut from Business Insider, red and green are revealed in nature during winter through holly trees, wreaths, and poinsettias. She shares that when looking back at Victorian Christmas cards, you would not just see red and green, but various combinations of red, blue, green, and white. However, in 1931 Coca Cola did a Christmas ad that incorporated red and green. They can be credited for promoting red and green in the United States.

Charlotte Hilton Anderson from RD tells us that green and red have been connected with the holiday season for many centuries. She says, “According to Spike Bucklow, PhD, an art historian from the University of Cambridge’s Hamilton Kerr Institute who has done extensive research on this topic. ‘We associate Christmas with red and green because that’s the way we’ve always done it,’ he explains. ‘But one can trace the roots of this color coding back through the centuries, to a time when the colors themselves had symbolic meaning, possibly as a way of accentuating a significant division or a boundary.’”

Charlotte teaches us that Celtic people used colorful evergreen and holly during the dead of winter to brighten things up. They were also used in medieval churches. She shares that red represents “love, courage, and romance,” and green represents nature, finances and good health.

Rebecca Norris from Country Living also chimes in, “Over time, the Celtic habit of putting up red and green holly transformed into hanging red and green decorations as a whole. And thus, the idea of decking the halls with the merry colors became a passed down, well-known tradition across the world.” She also credits Coca-Cola and specifically Haddon Sundblom for the red and green marketing. Rebecca tells us, “Santa drinking Coke, delivering presents, and interacting with children—ran from 1931 to 1964.”

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Red and green carry a special significance among the Christian community. Margot Cavin from The Spruce tells us that the color red symbolizes Jesus’ blood that he shed on the cross for us. It can be seen in holly berries, which had symbolism in Rome during the Winter Solstice. She also explains that the color green represents everlasting light and life. Romans used to decorate their homes with evergreen branches at New Years, and the fir tree was a symbol of life in winter.

As we ponder the faith-based meaning of red and green, may it motivate us to reflect on the death that Jesus went through in order for us to have new life. When we think about wintertime and the many dead trees around us, we can celebrate when we see a poinsettia or a holly berry bush, remembering that this winter will not last. It will serve as a reminder to us that we are forever forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus. We have the hope of everlasting life through Christ. Some believers like to reflect on the thought of a holly wreath like the crown of thorns and the blood of Christ.

Red = Blood

Colossians 1:20 says, “And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Green = Everlasting Life

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Even the candy cane has a special story of how our faith is incorporated into the colors. People say the red represents the blood of Jesus, white is the purity of Christ, and the three stripes signify trinity. These are fun ways to help others ponder the holiness and significance of God, especially when teaching kids.

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While I was in an interior design class in college, I had the opportunity to learn about complimentary colors. Wester’s Dictionary defines complimentary colors as “one of two colors that are very different from each other and produce a dull color when they are mixed together.” When looking at a color wheel, this would be the exact opposite colors on the circle.

According to Color Matters, there is harmony when analogous colors are presented, or in complementary colors. This means that red and green, which are opposite from each other on the color wheel, combine beautifully. “These opposing colors create maximum contrast and maximum stability.”

In other words, red and green were selected for Christmas quite possibly because they go really well together. These happy contrasting colors are seemingly normal in the season of winter within nature, they have been used in advertisements, and you have to admit, they look great on an ugly Christmas sweater.

I love how our God the Creator made evergreen trees, holly bushes with berries, and wreathes to highlight this dark and cold season each year. Red and green remind us of Him working in the harder places. He is always with us and these colors can be for plain enjoyments, used in marketing, and ultimately give us great joy when connecting them to our faith in Jesus and the celebration of His birth, death, and resurrection.

I hope that you have a wonderful time enjoying the beauty of these two power colors coming together to form what we called Christmas colors.

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