History of Christmas Wreaths

Christmas is a period of the year when people come together to welcome the festival. The Christmas festive season is all about Christmas tree decoration with ornaments and tinsel, decoration of homes and having feasts and parties. Christmas brings hope, happiness and festive fervor in every person's life. The holiday season gives an individual opportunity to spend quality time with friends and family. The entire atmosphere is filled with gusto. Homes are cleaned and decorated with lights, candles, lamps and twigs of evergreen trees like holly, mistletoe and so on. Every home has a Christmas wreath used as decorative item.

Traditionally, Christmas wreath is used in Christmas celebration for many years. Before the birth of Christ, people used to decorate homes with the wreaths made out of evergreen trees in winter season. The people did that to welcome the spring season, which will give them fruits and flowers. The exact time when wreaths were seen adoring homes is not recorded in history but it is an established fact that they have been there for long time. The wreaths have undergone changes with the passage of time. The wreath is used as a symbol of festive spirit of Christmas. The nature in form of evergreen twigs comes in the home through the wreaths.

In the earlier times, wreaths were hand made. They were made out of twigs, branches of trees and flowers. Wreaths were used as crown to honor an achievement of sportsperson in Olympics in Greece. Roman kings used wreaths as crowns while the war heroes were presented wreaths for their valor. Women of the elite class used wreath as an accessory with the jewelry that they used. Thus, wreath was used in daily routine and during occasion like weddings and festive celebrations. Hanging of wreaths near the entrance of the home during Advent and Christmas is a Catholic tradition.

The Advent wreath was specially made for the festival. The Advent wreath had five candles, four in the circle and one in the middle. These candles were in white in color and sometimes in violet and rose color. The candles placed in the wreath had special importance. One candle was lit every day till the Christmas Eve. The middle one was lighted on the festive Christmas Eve. The final candle stands for birth of Christ and enlightenment. The candle is lit when the entire family sits for the traditional Christmas dinner. The wreath has candles accompanied with pinecones, nuts and seedpods.

The traditional wreath was made from evergreen twigs, which symbolized fertility, prosperity and happiness. The circular shape showed that there is no beginning or end and God is eternal in human society. Today, the wreath is used as a decorative item on walls of houses and near the door step during Christmas. People love the evergreen color, which symbolizes prosperity and hope associated with the wreaths.