| The main colors of Christmas are red and | | | | This pine tree with the red apples eventually |
| green. Did you ever wonder why this is? The | | | | became a tradition in all churches and was |
| association of red and green with Christmas | | | | used in their Christmas celebrations every |
| is worldwide. One can speculate and come up | | | | year. |
| with lots of ideas about when and why these | | | | |
| colors were first associated with Christmas. | | | | The tree became known as the Paradise Tree |
| | | | and soon people began erecting pine trees in |
| Green comes from evergreens which have been | | | | their own homes during the holiday season |
| used since ancient times to celebrate the | | | | decorated with red apples. This began the |
| winter solstice. In the early days of the | | | | tradition of Christmas trees and the most |
| Roman Catholic Church when the pagan rituals | | | | popular explanation for the use of the colors |
| of the winter solstice were merged into the | | | | of red and green for the holidays. |
| celebration of Christ's birth evergreens | | | | |
| continued to be used. In winter solstice | | | | Another explanation is that green symbolizes |
| celebrations evergreens symbolized life that | | | | the hope Jesus gave us through his sacrifice |
| survived through the long, dark winters. The | | | | and is the color of evergreens which stay |
| Christians thought of green as symbolizing | | | | alive all year. Red is said to symbolize the |
| the hope for eternal life that Jesus offers. | | | | blood of Christ in this explanation. The |
| | | | blood was shed by Jesus so that people could |
| A commonly accepted explanation for the use | | | | be saved and when combined with green it |
| of red and green is based on a historical | | | | expresses the hope of our redemption through |
| fact. Back in the 1300's Adam and Eve's day | | | | Christ sacrifice. |
| was celebrated on Christmas Eve. Churches in | | | | |
| those days presented a lot of plays because | | | | Holly is a popular Christmas decoration |
| most people were illiterate. The plays were | | | | because it combines the color of green in its |
| focused on religious stories of importance to | | | | leaves with the red of its berries. |
| the church and were called miracle plays. On | | | | Traditional Christmas wreaths have always |
| Adam and Eve's day the play was called the | | | | been decorated with red bows and red berries. |
| paradise play and portrayed what happened in | | | | Santa Claus has always had a red costume and |
| the garden of eden. There wasn't an apple | | | | Rudolph the Reindeer has always had a red |
| tree available in the winter so they made one | | | | nose. These colors are here to stay and will |
| by tying apples to a pine tree and it served | | | | always represent the holidays in most peoples |
| as the tree that bore the forbidden fruit. | | | | minds. |