Who chose red and green to be the official colors of Christmas?

rfcneil

"Red symbolizes the blood that Jesus spilt to redeem us from our sins. Green is the color of life. Therefore, green symbolizes the potential for eternal life that Jesus' sacrifice made possible for all of us." http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/11783 Dec 25 09, 8:19 AM

looney_tunes

While that is one possibility, this site suggests that it is less likely than an origin in the colors of the Paradies Tree, associated with Christmas since the 1300s. As is usually the case with a long-standing folk tradition, you can find multiple explanations/sources - each of them finds an accepting audience, increasing the overall acceptance of the tradition! I have also heard arguments that it comes from pagan roots of the Yule festival - another of many examples of Christianity adopting features of an already established religion to increase acceptance by local people. http://www.essortment.com/family/christmascolor_sccl.htm http://tribes.tribe.net/c70c7a4b-9a2a-4751-a329-69c4ccf86a28/thread/78ef26bc-3a34-476e-a436-6bd66e01b77c Dec 25 09, 1:55 PM

Baloo55th

Since when have they been 'official', and who declared them so? 'Traditional' rather than 'official' should perhaps be the term, until there is a World Government Ministry of Midwinter (Northern Hemisphere) Festivals... Dec 30 09, 6:29 PM