Christmas Symbols - It's Christmas Time

Did you know that Christmas is probably the holiday which is celebrated by more people in the world than any other kind of Christian holiday? Among those millions of people who are going to prepare the Christmas celebrations, whether on Christmas eve or on Christmas day; how many actually know anything about Christmas symbols? What about you?

Here we're going to review the symbols of Christmas and in this list, you're going to recognize a lot of those symbols you place in the home and use as decorating items. Most of us use them without being aware of the meaning of all these items.

Christmas Symbols

Christmas Nativity

Let's start with one of the most well-known symbols of Christmas: the Nativity display. Most of use use to place it in the living room as it is one of the most important and less overlooked Christmas decoration.

The Nativity scene symbolizes the crib in whiche baby Jesus sleps after his birth in Bethlehem.

A magnificent Nativity scene was created by Francis of Assisi for Christmas in the 13th century. He got the Pope's authorization to create this scene in Greccio (Italy). This was a live account of the Nativity where Francis of Assisi delivered a sermon.

The Christmas Wreath

Another Christmas symbol most of use use each year is the Christmas wreath which we hand on the front door of our homes and sometimes on the door of each room inside the home. This symbol has both Christian and pagan origins.

Hollies and berries were supposed to keep witches away from our homes and evergreen were supposed to chase evel spirits in the Middle Ages. This is the reason why people used to make wreaths and hang them on their front door.

In addition, wreaths wre also used to celebrate Bacchus in pagan customs.

The original Christmas wreath is laced with red ribbons; which symbolize the festive spirit of Christmas while evergreen leaves symbolize the rebirth of nature and life after the winter as well as eternal life to believers. The Christmas wreath is round-shaped because it represents the crown Jesus had to wear when Romans ridiculed him for claiming to be the "King of Jews."

Christmas Log - Yule Log

The Christmas log represents the log that we put in the fireplace to warm up on Christmas Eve. But, of course, this tradition has its origins. Legends say that yule logs were used as fuel for the Sun and that they reprensented the Sun's light and warmth power.

In Christmas traditions and ancient times, yule logs were put into fireplaces and did burn for twelve hours. There were rules regarding the use of yule logs: they couldn't be bought, they had to be got as gifts, they had to come from a tree we had grown on our own and they had to be kindled with fragments of previous year's logs and their fire couldn't go out on its own. Hm, strange customs and rules.

Holly for Christmas

Now that we know that evergreen leaves represent eternal life and berries represent drops of Jesus' blood on the Cross, we can assume that Christmas holly reminds us of Jesus' crown at the time he got tormented by Romans.

Nowadays, holly is supposed to bring luck and happiness to those who exchange a kiss under a branch of it.

Christmas Bells

While some pretend that bells were run in order to ward off evel spirits. This might be true, however, and while bells can have their roots in pagan customs, Christmas as we celebrate it nowadays isn't a pagan holiday any more, but a Christian celebration.

Therefore, I'd say that using bells was and still is a tradition in any Christian church in Europe and the tradition of using bells on Christmas certainly comes from the fact that, in the past centuries, bells were used to announce a death, a danger as well as to anounce the mass.

So, on Christmas Eve, bells ring in all churches to call those of the faith for the Midnight Mass.

Christmas Poinsettias

Poinsettias are Mexican plants and were brought to the USA in the 19th century. Poinsettias were used by Aztec people in religious ceremonies as well as for medicinal purpose as it seems that they considered their red colour as colour of purity.

The relation between poinsettia and Christmas time comes from a legend that pretends a young girl would have offered poinsettia weeds as gift to Jesus on Christmas Eve. Poinsettia weeds blossomed into a wonderful red plant in a matter of seconds. This was a miracle - as they can just happen on Christmas.

Myth or reality? We'll probably never know.

Gifts for Christmas

Christmas gifts are supposed to represent the gifts Magi brought to Baby Jesus, as Christians pretend. However, during the pagan festivities of Saturnalia, Roman used to exchange gifts and this custom has surely a little something connected with our gift giving tradition.

Rose of Christmas

The Christmas Rose is European native flower which only blooms in winter - when grown outside, it blooms in February or March, when grown in pots indoors, it blooms in December. It is commonly used as Christmas flower in European countries while Poinsettia is used in the USA.

There's a legend linked to the use of this flower, of course. Here's what it's all about: a young girl saw the three wise men bearing gifts for Baby Jesus and she broke down in tears because she had nothing to give Him. An angel took pity on her and turned the snow at her feel to lovely white flowers tipped with pink which were ultimately named the Christmas Rose.

Colours of Christmas

How many colours do you use to decorate the home on Christmas time? Many colours, I'm sure! I, myself, switched colours from year to year before getting back to the classic Christmas colours: red, green and gold. Here are the main Christmas colours used all over the world: