Culture Focus: Valentine’s Day

For our culture focus this week, we’ll take a look at an unofficial holiday that many Americans celebrate: Valentine’s Day. There were several early Christian martyrs named Valentine, but it is not clear how a saint’s feast day came to be associated with a day celebrating romantic love. According to legend, one of the Roman emperors had ordered young men to remain single, believing that married men did not make good soldiers. The priest Valentine nonetheless performed marriage ceremonies in secret for young men.

Whatever the origins of St. Valentine’s Day, it is a day for lovers to remember one another and affirm their love. It is especially common for boyfriends and husbands to give their girlfriends and wives flowers, candy (particularly chocolate), cards, and / or take them out to a romantic dinner. Roses are a favorite gift on this holiday. Sometimes, the color of the rose may have special meaning. According to Wikipedia,

• Red: A very close friendship, love "I Love You"
• Pink: Grace, gentle feelings of love and friendship
• Dark Pink: Gratitude
• Light Pink: Admiration, sympathy
• White: Innocence, purity, secrecy, friendship, reverence and humility.
• Yellow: Often akin to joy and deep friendship or platonic love. In German speaking countries, however, they can mean jealousy and infidelity.
• Yellow with red tips: Friendship, falling in love
• Orange: Passion
• Burgundy: Beauty
• Blue: Mystery
• Green: Calm
• Black: used to signify death (black being the color of death) often of old habits. In a positive light it signifies rebirth after death. Also, slavish devotion (as a true black rose is impossible to produce)
• Purple: protection (paternal/maternal love)

For Valentine’s Day, the most common color for roses is red.

Although children are too young to be interested in romancing the opposite sex, it is common for children to pass out children’s valentines to all their classmates and teachers. It is also common for the children to pass out “conversation hearts,” which are little candy hearts with various sayings stamped on them.