Red and green are the traditional Christmas colors, ubiquitous during the holiday season. Red symbolizes the blood of Christ and the Christian beliefs underlying the celebration of Christmas, while green represents life and rebirth. But red as a Christmas color is a relatively recent tradition, only becoming strongly associated with the holiday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Before this time, there were a variety of other colors used to celebrate Christmas.
So when exactly did red become one of the definitive Christmas colors? The history is complex, with the color slowly gaining prominence through changing fashions, traditions, and marketing over the last few centuries. By looking at evidence from history, pop culture, commerce, and more, we can piece together an understanding of the timeline for red becoming a Christmas staple.
Early History of Christmas Colors
In early Christianity, there were no set colors associated with Christmas or other religious holidays. Important Christian symbols like the cross were not standardized to any color scheme. Religious color traditions and superstitions varied widely across regions and cultures.
However, some colors were commonly associated with certain customs. Red, white, and green tended to be used for festive occasions in parts of Europe. Red apples and holly berries were seen as midwinter holiday symbols since pagan times.
Other early Christmas colors included gold, to honor the opulence of the gifts given by the Three Wise Men, as well as blue, which represented the color of the Virgin Mary’s robes. For example, in the late Middle Ages, many European Christmas paintings depicted Mary in a blue or white head-covering and cloak.
Emergence of Modern Christmas Colors
The early Victorian era from 1837-1860 was a pivotal time for establishing Christmas color traditions. This period saw a revival and celebration of many older folk customs associated with Christmas, as well as the invention of new traditions.
Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert were hugely influential in promoting ideals around family gatherings, decorating Christmas trees, caroling, and seasonal charity. Their celebrations at Windsor Castle served as trendsetting inspiration for many families and helped reinvent Christmas as a distinct holiday after the austerity of the Cromwellian era.
The Victorian Christmas featured a color scheme of red, green, and gold across clothing, ornaments, and decorations. Red was used for holly berries and poinsettia flowers. Green represented evergreens like mistletoe, trees, and wreaths. Gold depicted the light of candles, stars, and the sun.
This red, green, and gold palette derived from medieval traditions was echoed across all types of design, architecture, and art in the Victorian period. The colors were rich and luxurious, perfectly suiting the bourgeois values of the era.
Red Becomes a Victorian Staple
Red became a standout as the most vibrant and ostentatious of the three colors. In a sea of green trees and gold candles, red ornaments and decorative objects had high visual impact. The rich shade exemplified the Victorian ideals of drama and fullness of experience. And red had associations with the feasting and revelry of Christmas.
An explosion of factory-produced paper products, clothing, and decorations meant Victorians could easily purchase red and green items. Red and green paper cornucopias overflowing with sweets were a signature Victorian confection. Textile manufacturing advances led to the mass production of red Christmas fabric for stockings, tablecloths, and tree skirts.
New tree ornament technology meant the upper classes could decorate elaborately trimmed Christmas trees entirely in red, green, and gold. Lower income families adopted simpler versions using cards, apples, nuts, popcorn strings, candles, and home-sewn red and green embellishments.
| Color | Victorian Christmas Association |
|---|---|
| Red | Holly berries, poinsettia flowers, feast and revelry |
| Green | Evergreen foliage, trees, mistletoe, wreaths |
| Gold | Candlelight, nativity stars, sun symbolism |
Red in 19th Century Christmas Songs and Stories
Christmas songs and stories also reflected the growing iconic status of red as a holiday color in Victorian times. Earlier carols tended to have a religious focus, without mentioning specific holiday colors.
In the 1830s-1840s, new Christmas songs pivoted to more secular themes of feasting, dancing, and seasonal nostalgia. Songs like “Deck the Halls” referred to trappings like “boughs of holly”, highlighting red’s link to ancient traditions.
Charles Dickens’ 1843 book A Christmas Carol emphasized charity and family gatherings. Illustrations famously depicted red scarves, rosy cheeked children, and red holiday dishes like plum pudding.
Products aimed at children also cemented red as a quintessential Christmas shade. Candy companies proffered red striped candy sticks and canes shaped like shepherds’ crooks. Red became the color of Christmas crackers – the British party favors introduced by Tom Smith in 1847.
Coca-Cola and Santa’s Red Suit
In the early 20th century, the soft drink company Coca-Cola helped popularize the image of Santa Claus in a red suit trimmed with white fur. This enduring figure of a plump, jolly, bearded old man was immortalized in a 1931 Coca-Cola advertisement illustrated by artist Haddon Sundblom.
While Coke’s advertising did not originate the red Santa motif, Sundblom’s cheerful scenes of Santa pausing to enjoy a Coke reached millions through ads, billboards, and posters. Coca-Cola commissioned these Santa images every year until 1964, ultimately spreading this red-suited version of St. Nick around the world.
Prior depictions of Santa Claus had shown him in a variety of costumes and colors. But the red and white Coke Santa emerged as the standard, ubiquitous across every sector of commercial culture, from Macy’s floats to Bing Crosby songs.
| Year | Development |
|---|---|
| 1822 | Clement Clarke Moore poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” introduces Santa as chubby and elf-like with a beard and twinkling eyes. |
| 1863 | Illustrator Thomas Nast depicts Santa Claus in Harper’s Weekly wearing a red coat with white fur trim. |
| 1930 | The Coca-Cola Company starts using Santa images in ads wearing Coke red and white. |
| 1931 | Artist Haddon Sundblom paints the first “Coke Santa” advertisements. |
Use of Red in 20th Century Commercial Christmas Decor
Over the course of the 20th century, red solidified as the emphatically dominant Christmas color in stores, commercial decorations, cards, and promotions. Retail outlets like Macy’s used red abundantly across window displays, merchandise, and advertising to denote the holiday shopping season.
Department stores featured gigantic red Christmas tree ornaments and illuminated “Merry Christmas” signs in red neon. Electric lights on trees and buildings switched from multi-color to strings of red bulbs only. Candy canes and red striped stockings proliferated.
Motifs like Santa hats, poinsettias, and cardinals became red by default. Simply showing these symbols in red was enough to evoke an immediate Christmas mood. The alliance of red and Christmas was further reinforced through holiday movies and television specials starring the Coke Santa.
Modern Red and Green Christmas Decor
While red dominates as the Christmas color, green complementary accents remain ubiquitous. The two colors work together as an instantly recognizable symbol of Christmas. Contemporary red and green decorations feature patterns like:
– Plaid tablecloths
– Striped candy canes
– Holly leaves with red berries
– Green pine wreaths with red bows
– Red candles and poinsettias on a green fir table runner
– Red and green striped stockings hung by the chimney
Other accent colors occasionally appear like gold, blue, silver, or purple, but red and green remain the undisputed leaders. Entire home decoration schemes center around red and green during the holidays. Finding any other color scheme requires actively avoiding these two shades.
Psychology of Red as a Christmas Color
Beyond tradition and familiarity, red holds innate psychological traits that make it ideal for the merry side of Christmas. Various studies have found that red can increase excitement levels and stimulate enthusiasm and interest. Seeing red seems to have physiological effects like increased heart rate, greater physical activity, and changes in brain wave patterns.
In decor and advertising, red captures attention and provides visual pop. Red motifs feel lively against winter backdrops of snow or evergreens. Red feels celebratory, playing into Christmas expectations of food, gifts, singing, and parties. And the traditional link between red and Santa Claus brings up warm, nostalgic childhood memories for many.
But red is also linked to negative emotions like danger, aggression, and threats. Experts debate how much of red’s emotional effects are biologically ingrained versus learned through culture. Regardless, red remains a first-class attention-getter and the Christmas color par excellence.
When Green Overtakes Red
While red dominates most Christmas product branding, store displays, and decorations, red and green occasionally switch places. During specific periods, green has superseded red and become the primary Christmas color.
**World War II Christmases.** With rationing and scarcity during World War II, households could not easily find red and green decorations, presents, and foods. But evergreen branches and trees – symbolizing hope and renewal – remained abundant. Christmas celebrations were largely green with touches of handmade red accents like berries or poppy flowers.
**Eco-friendly Christmas.** Environmentalism surged in the 2000s-2010s. Eco-conscious households chose holiday decor primarily in green and natural hues rather than bright reds. Emphasizing green showed commitment to sustainability goals.
**Green Christmas fashion.** Throughout fashion history, green occasionally displaces red as the more fashionable and upbeat holiday hue. Examples include the 1908 green Christmas fad or the 1950s trend for icy blue-green decor. Vintage Christmas ads for department stores like Marshall Fields or Wanamaker’s periodically touted green as the latest holiday taste.
Conclusion
While various colors have gone in and out of favor, red has ascended over the past 150 years as the quintessential Christmas color. Its eye-catching brightness provides visual excitement. Red symbolizes the feasting and merriment at the heart of Christmas. And associations with Santa Claus, poinsettias, and candy canes are now inextricably linked with red.
Green joins red as its traditional Christmas partner. And red must still compete with green or other color trends each holiday season. But the dramatic hue remains unmatched in its ability to instantly evoke the Christmas spirit and nostalgic memories. For the foreseeable future, Christmas is unlikely to be imagined without red.