The Symbolism and History of Valentine’s Day

Maybe it's true that Valentine's Day was invented by Hallmark, but I don't care. I still love Valentine's Day! Walk into any store and you see pink paper hearts floating from the ceilings or windows. Little cupid angels are pointing their arrows right at your heart and there is an overall feeling of love in the air!

One of the things I love about Valentine’s Day is the history and symbolism of the items used to depict the holiday of love. Take the two hearts with an arrow through them, which symbolizes love and unity. The two hearts represent the emotion of love between two people and the arrow symbolizes Cupid's dart of love.

And who is Cupid and where did he come from? Cupid was the Roman God of Love. Cupid was the equivalent of the Greek God of Love who was named Eros ("eros" as in "erogenous" zone- get it)? So the picture of two hearts with an arrow through them represents two people who have fallen in love with each other – and are now united as one. Pretty cool and romantic!

Red roses represent passion. It is believed that red roses were the favorite flowers of Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love.

We see a lot of birds paired together for Valentine's Day. Did you know that birds paired together symbolize fidelity and nesting? And since doves mate for life – they are often depicted in cards and floral arrangements for this holiday. The dove is the symbol for the Greek goddess of Love otherwise known as Aphrodite. (Now you know why many couples choose to release doves on their wedding day).

Now here is my favorite little known fact about love symbols. We all know that "X" stands for a kiss when we write it on our cards; but do you know why? In medieval times the average person (really peasant) could not write. Therefore, they signed their name with an "x" and then they would kiss the "x" to represent their honesty attached to their signature. This is how the letter "x" came to represent a kiss. So this is where the concept of "sealed with a kiss" comes from. I love this stuff! Happy Valentine’s Day!