Valentine's Day Symbols 

Most holidays have their own unique symbols whose purpose is to provoke a certain emotional and sentimental response out of those people who view the symbols. Christmas has its Christmas trees and mistletoes. Halloween has its Jack O’Lanterns. Valentine’s Day, of course, has its images of hearts, cupids, roses and other symbols that are most associated with love and romance. During the first two weeks of February we will see these symbols on display in all manner of decorations and while we automatically come to accept them as symbolic of the Valentine’s Day celebration, we never really stop and think about the meaning behind these symbols or their origins. Well, perhaps it is about time took a step back and examined what they represent and where the come from. 

The aforementioned red roses come originate form the Roman tradition as according to Roman mythology the rose was the preferred flower of Venus, the goddess of love made famous in the Frankie Valie song. (Ok, she was popular for many centuries before the song came out) Since roses were the preferred flower of a goddess who represented love, roses became a symbolic flower of romance and are presented to lovers as a sign of affection. Additionally, the color of the rose is red and red also has a certain level of symbolic significance as it represents strong feeling or, more specifically, strong feelings of love and emotions towards a particular person. 

Similarly, the symbol of Cupid is borrowed from the Roman tradition as Cupid was the male God of love. Of course, the Roman concept of love and relationships was hardly one that would be considered acceptably by a modern society and many of the Roman depictions of Cupid were not exactly PG rated. Since the original depiction of Cupid was a bit amorous, the common Valentine’s Day depiction of this god was revamped to make him a harmless angel who carries a bow and arrow. (Yes, he was downgraded from a god to an angel) If he hits you with your arrow then you fall in love. Of course, he must hit you in the heart and this brings us to the definition of the heart. 

The heart is probably the most common symbolic image that is associated with Valentine’s Day and that is because it was believed the heart was the epicenter of all human emotion. Since love is an emotion, it originates from the heart as well (well, at least symbolically) and this is why the heart is the main symbol of Valentine’s Day. After all, there is no Valentine’s Day without romance and there is no romance without love and there is no love without a heart. It is all really logical when it is examined…at least on a symbolic level. 

While the symbols associated with Valentine’s Day are generally simple in design they are still visually effective. There are a number of reasons for this and the most common is the fact that people are willing to embrace love and romance and all the symbols that go with it.