Why do we associate red and green with Christmas?

Christmas is a time of joy, celebration, gift-giving and of course decorating. For the most part people tend to stick to ‘Christmassy colours’ especially red and green but these ‘traditional’ Christmas colours have a long history and symbolism.

Arielle Eckstut, author of The Secret Language of Color found that holly, with its green leaves and red berries has long played a role in winter solstice celebrations that predate Christmas. People revered holly plants for being evergreen and surviving the winter and used them as symbols of protection and prosperity in their midwinter celebrations. 

“It’s like a lot of things that have to do with culture and colour, where it’s some combination of a natural phenomenon mixed with other cultural forces,” she says.

What cultural events have made red and green Christmassy? Do red and green have any religious significance? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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A podcast written and realised by Amber Minogue.

First Broadcast: 19/12/2023

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