The Colours of Christmas
As Interior Designers we tend to get all sorts of information telling us what is currently ‘on trend’. Today we received an email informing us that the colour for Christmas 2019 is blue!! (Who decides these things?) This got us thinking about the use of colour at Christmas.
There are several colours that immediately spring to mind for Christmas and these are red, green and gold. Why these colours, what significance do they have and from where did they arise? Most Christmas colours and their meanings come from western/northern European traditions and customs where Christmas is in the middle of winter and its dark and cold.
Green
Evergreen plants like holly, ivy and mistletoe have been used for hundreds of years to decorate and brighten up buildings during the long dark winter. They also reminded people that spring would come and winter would not last forever. The Romans would exchange evergreen branches during January as a sign of good luck and the ancient Egyptians used to bring palm branches into their houses during mid winter festivals. In many parts of Europe in the middle ages, Paradise Plays were performed often on Christmas Eve. They told bible stories to the people who couldn’t read. The Paradise tree in the Garden of Eden in these plays was normally a pine tree with red apples tied to it. To the Christian church the evergreen also symbolises immortality or everlasting life because they retain their leaves through winter.
Red.
As mentioned above the early use of red at Christmas was the apples on the paradise trees, which obviously represented the fall of Adam in the plays. In the early church, December 24th was Adam and Eve’s day. Red is also the colour of holly (a derivation of holy) berries, which is said to represent the blood of Jesus when he died on the cross. We also have to thank Haddon Sundblom for the mass of red at this time of year. Who is he I hear you ask? Well he was the man that Coca Cola hired to to draw Santa Claus for their early Christmas adverts. Of course red is the colour used for the Coke logo, Father Christmas until then had been depicted in all shapes, sizes and colours, usually as a bishop. The fat jolly red Santa figure from those adverts then really caught on.
Gold
Gold is the colour of the sun and light both very important in the dark winter and of course gold and red together are the colours of fire that need to keep you warm. Gold was also one of the gifts brought by the Magi for baby Jesus and traditionally it is the colour used to to show the star that the wise men followed.
White
White is often associated with purity and peace in western cultures. Snow of course is white. White wafers were also sometimes used to decorate the Paradise trees to represent the bread eaten during Christian Communion services. White is also used by most churches as the colour of Christmas, when the altar is covered in a white cloth. The Russian Orthodox Church use gold for Christmas.
Blue
So onto that blue for 2019, not a colour that immediately springs to mind for Christmas, unless you are an Elvis Presley fan. Blue is often associated with Mary, the mother of Jesus. In mediaeval times blue dye and paint was more expensive than gold, so it was only worn by royal families and very rich people thus Mary was often depicted wearing blue to show how important she was.
We have also been asked to contribute to a designer series on decorating your staircase for Christmas. The article can be seen at https://www.jacksonwoodturners.co.uk/planning-advice/styling-staircase-christmas
Whatever colours you choose to decorate your homes with this Christmas, we here at Chameleon Designs would like to wish all our readers a very happy and peaceful Christmas and also a healthy and prosperous New Year