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Let's Talk About Valentine’s Day Symbols

Meanings and Traditions

By Kelia JemPublished 2 years ago 6 min read
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Let's Talk About Valentine’s Day Symbols
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Valentine's Day around the world includes a number of specific symbols and representations, each with different meanings and legends, related to the magical feeling of love...

Among the symbols of Valentine's Day, we find roses, hearts, Cupid, love birds, and pigeons. love knots, ribbons, the letter X, and the colors red, white, and pink.

Valentine's Day roses

One of the most popular flowers in the world and a force-filled symbol of Valentine's Day, the rose has always been a source of inspiration for poets and lovers since time immemorial, often signifying beauty, passion, and love.

Every year, on February 14th, the rose flower bearing the implied message of "I love you" is a favorite gift of all people touched by Cupid's arrow.

The legend of the rose started from a beautiful girl named Rodanthe, courted by a large number of admirers who, inspired by a fierce passion, entered the house of the tempting woman, knocking down the front doors.

Infuriated by this deed, the goddess Diana transformed Rodanthe into a flower, and her courtiers into thorns on her branch.

According to a popular story in ancient Rome, when Cupid was carrying a cup of nectar to the gods of Olympus, a few drops of the precious liquid dripped on the ground, instantly turning into beautiful rose flowers.

Lovers in England and America are delighted that the English name for the rose, "rose," is made up of the same words as "Eros," the god of love.

Red roses, the favorite flowers of Venus, the goddess of love, are consecrated symbols of love and passion. More about the rose and the meaning of its colors in the articles: Legends of the rose, The rose, the symbol of love

Valentine's hearts

The red hearts, sometimes pierced by Cupid's arrow, are traditional symbols of Valentine's Day. The heart represents love, and the metaphor of giving the heart means offering the whole life to the loved one.

The image of the heart in which an arrow is inserted signifies the risk that any lover assumes of being rejected and thus injuring his heart. Also, hearts pierced by arrows symbolize death, always imminent, or the vulnerability of love.

In some interpretations, the same graphic representation is seen as a symbol of the union or fusion between a man and a woman.

Nowadays, hearts are present on Valentine's Day postcards, in heart-shaped balloons or pillows, and in other gifts on the occasion of this anniversary of love.

The origins of Valentine's Day hearts seem to lie somewhere around the twelfth century, when people, unaware of the true anatomical function of the heart but aware of the increased heart rate when someone was upset or happy, began to conceive of the heart as a source of emotions and feelings.

Poets have also always emphasized the role of the heart in feelings of love so that over time, love and heart have become closely connected in people's minds and imaginations.

The popular English expression "wearing someone's heart on the sleeve of a coat" comes from the British and US tradition of the 1800s when young men used to hang on their sleeves pieces of paper in the shape of hearts on which were written the names of their lovers.

Cupid

The little winged and mischievous angel named Cupid is one of the most famous symbols of Valentine's Day. In Roman mythology, Cupid was described as the son of Venus, the goddess of love, and was depicted wearing a bow and arrow. Whoever was hit by his arrows was doomed to fall in love.

In Greek mythology, Cupid was known as Eros, the son of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. In both the ancient Roman and Greek worlds, Cupid was described as a handsome young man and not as a fat child endowed with wings.

In some legends, it was said that whoever was hit by an arrow from Cupid was destined to fall in love with the first person he saw. At the same time, it is believed that the arrows of love had the gift of invisibility so that no mortal could be aware of Cupid's subtle attack.

Love birds and pigeons

The symbolism of Valentine's Day birds has its origins in the belief that they find their mate on February 14th. At the same time, love pigeons and birds signify innocence or purity, and when represented in pairs, they suggest the tenderness and strength of love between two lovers.

It is said that the bluebirds of love have earned their name due to the fact that when they are in pairs, they merge their bodies like a couple in love. At the same time, there is a superstition that these birds cannot survive the death of their mate.

A specific trait of pigeons is extreme fidelity to the partner. Unlike most living things on earth, pigeons remain faithful to their mates throughout their lives.

According to a myth, the Roman goddess Venus considers pigeons to be sacred beings precisely because of this attachment between the members of the couple. Sometimes the pigeon's croaking is likened to the true language of love.

The knots of love

Symbols of immortal love, the knots of love consist of several series of braids and knots without beginning or end.

The knots of love for Valentine's Day are considered to have their origin in the Celtic world or in the ancient Arab traditions.

According to legend, the young women, forced to remain imprisoned in the house due to strict Muslim norms, communicated their love for their lovers by secretly sending them messages through knots made of textile threads from the edges of the carpets.

Men in love answered the girls using the same cipher node messages.

Valentine's Day ribbons

Valentine's Day ribbons and strings, associated with love and romantic feelings, date back to ancient times when kings and knights who set out for battle received a ribbon as a gift from their wives or chosen ones.

On the other hand, these ribbons may have originated in handkerchiefs that, hundreds of years ago, were deliberately dropped by women to be picked up from the ground by men they secretly loved.

Over time, ribbons have become a traditional accessory of chocolate boxes and Valentine's postcards.

Letter X, a symbol of the kiss

This symbolism dates back to medieval times when there was a practice of allowing illiterate people to sign a document using the letter X.

This was done in the presence of witnesses, and the signer used to show his sincerity by placing a kiss over the X sign. the letter X placed at the end of a letter is a symbol of the kiss.

Valentine's Day colors

The colors pink, red, and white adorn most of the postcards and Valentine's Day decorations, but also other commercial products specific to this holiday such as clothing, candles, or ribbons.

Red, associated with the heart, symbolizes affection and love.

White is a symbol of purity, but also of the fidelity of the partners in a couple in love.

Pink (a combination of red and white) is a symbol of innocence and virginity.

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About the Creator

Kelia Jem

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