Happy Valentine’s Day! :FACTS
Popular belief says St Valentine was a priest from Rome in the 3rd century AD. At the time, Emperor Claudius the second is said to have banned marriages because he thought married men made bad soldiers. St Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secrecy. When Claudius found out, he had St Valentine imprisoned and sentenced to death. In prison, Valentine is said to have fallen in love with and cared for the jailer’s daughter and when he was taken to be killed on the 14th of February, he sent her a love note signed ‘From your Valentine’.
It wasn’t until 200 years after his death that 14th of February was proclaimed to be Valentine’s Day though. Poet Chaucer in the Middle Ages is said to have been the first to link St Valentine with romantic love and thereafter the colours Red, White and Pink came to be associated with Valentine’s Day. Red is associated with energy, strength, power, and danger. But it also symbolizes passion, love, and desire. The colour red increases your heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure. Red also has high visibility — good for stop signs, signals and fire extinguishers. It’s used to denote danger too. I suppose you’re in dangerous territory when you fall in love.
The most popular Valentine’s Day flower is the red rose, mythologically thought to be the favourite flower of Venus- Roman Goddess of Love and beauty; making it the perfect blossom to be gifted to someone you love passionately.
The practice of gifting red roses on Valentine's Day is believed to have become popular with the introduction of the Persian tradition of "the language of flowers" to Europe by Charles II of Sweden in the 16th century. This was given a further boost by several poets and authors of that age who praised and promoted the red rose as a symbol of love, passion and beauty.
Here’s our colour reference chart with associations to human emotions to help you pick the right gift for your Valentine:
White - True love, purity of the mind and reverence
Pink - Friend or Sweetheart and admiration
Yellow - Friendship, celebration and joy
Lilac - Love at first sight and enchantment
Red - Love and passion
Coral - Desire
Peach - Desire and excitement or appreciation
Orange - Enthusiasm and desire
Yellow and Orange together: Passion
Red and Yellow together- Happiness and celebrations
Red and White together - Bonding and harmony
Black - "Adios" or "It's Over"
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Author: #Sneha Sundareshan