Poinsettia

Day 14 of anuk's Advent Calendar - Red

Red and green are the "Colours of Christmas", and there are two prevailing source of this tradition.

From Christian symbolism, Red represents Christ's blood shed for our sin on the cross. (John 19:34), while Green is Eternal life in Christ. (John 3:16-17). The second is that they have been adopted from earlier Pagan beliefs. Many of the early Christians were originally pagans who celebrated Yule. When they started celebrating Christmas they wanted to bring some of their old, beloved customs into the new holiday; among them were the Yule log and the Yule colours red, green, silver and gold. There is also a view that the red represents the apple, as in Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

In more modern times, the poinsettia has become the flower of Christmas. It was introduced to America by the ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett, in 1828. The yellow flower at the centre of the red bracts is symbolic of the star of Bethlehem.