Christmas is a season that is full of colour, and we associate specific colours to Christmas for various meanings. There are 4 colours in particular that are most popular and they can often been seen splashed in houses, department stores, and other public places during the lead up to Christmas Day.
Red
First off, red is a prominent Christmas colour and is often the colour used for Christmas wrapping, decorations and clothing because it is bright and joyous. Red is particularly popular because it has been associated with various winter traditions for many years at a time when red holly berries are in season.
Additionally, in modern popular culture, Santa Claus is always seen wearing a red outfit and his suit is now iconic, being featured in adverts and movies for many, many years.
Green
Similarly to red, green is associated with Christmas due to its connection with holly and other evergreen plants which have been used for thousands of years to brighten up people’s houses during the cold, dark winter months.
Green is also connected to our Christmas tree tradition of bringing a tree indoors to decorate, a tradition that stems from as far back as Roman times when they would exchange evergreen for good luck. Even if you don’t opt for a real tree, artificial Christmas trees come in many different green shades.
Gold
Gold is a bright colour which is traditionally very helpful during winter months, especially back when light was scarce. Gold alongside red represents the warmth of the fire, and we all want to feel warm and cosy during Christmas when it’s cold or snow outside.
Gold can also be linked to Christianity, as gold was one of the gifts baby Jesus received from the wise men when he was born, and it is also the colour of the star they followed to find him. This is one of the reasons why many of our decorations are yellow and gold shades.
White
White is the colour of snow and Christmas tends to be associated with snow quite a bit due to the weather during the season. Children often make paper snowflakes out of white paper and people often use fake snow in their Christmas decoration displays. There are even songs written about the lure of a ‘white Christmas’, as well as idyllic scenes of snow-covered houses within our favourite Christmas films.
