The origin of Christmas: from the Nativity to Santa's red suit

Every year we decorate the tree, wait for Santa and gather for a big meal. But where do all these traditions come from? Between the birth of Christ, Roman winter festivals, a bishop from what is now Turkey and a famous advertising campaign, the story of Christmas is more surprising than you might think.

Christmas, the birth of Christ

"Christmas" comes from "Christ's Mass". For Christians, it celebrates the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Yet the Bible gives no date. In the first centuries, Christians mainly celebrated Easter.

Why 25 December?

The oldest known mention of a feast of Christ's birth on 25 December appears in a Roman calendar from the year 354. The Church in Rome therefore set the date in the 4th century.

Why that day? Historians offer several explanations, without settling the question:

• it falls just after the winter solstice, when days start getting longer again: a fitting symbol for the birth of the "light of the world";
• the Romans held the Saturnalia and celebrated the Unconquered Sun at the same time of year, and the Christian feast may have taken their place;
• other early calculations started from the supposed date of the Annunciation, 25 March, nine months earlier.

The nativity scene, the tree and the baubles

The nativity scene

The first living nativity scene is credited to Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223, in Greccio, Italy.

The Christmas tree

The first written record of a Christmas tree dates from 1521, in Sélestat, Alsace, in the town's accounts. The evergreen symbolised life in the middle of winter. The tradition spread through the German-speaking world, and Britain took to it in the 1840s, when an engraving of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert around a decorated tree was widely published.

Baubles and lights

Trees were first decorated with apples, then glass baubles. In 1882 in New York, Edward H. Johnson, a colleague of Thomas Edison, lit a tree with 80 electric bulbs, the start of Christmas lights.

From Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus

Saint Nicholas, the ancestor

Santa Claus descends from Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop of Myra (in today's Turkey), known for his generosity towards children. His feast day, 6 December, is still widely celebrated in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Sinterklaas becomes Santa Claus

Dutch settlers took Sinterklaas to New York. In the 19th century he became Santa Claus: the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, published in 1823 ("'Twas the night before Christmas"), gave him a sleigh, eight reindeer and the habit of coming down the chimney. In the 1860s, the cartoonist Thomas Nast fixed his image as a jolly, bearded old man in Harper's Weekly.

And Father Christmas?

In England, Father Christmas was originally a separate figure, a personification of Christmas cheer often shown in a long green robe. During the Victorian era he merged with the American Santa Claus, and today the two names mean the same person.

Why does Santa wear red?

You often hear that Coca-Cola invented Santa's red suit. It is a myth. Saint Nicholas had long worn a bishop's red robes, and by the 19th century Santa was most often shown in red on cards and in picture books.

What Coca-Cola did was make that image famous worldwide: from 1931, illustrator Haddon Sundblom drew a round, smiling Santa in red and white for the brand's adverts, used for more than thirty years. He did not create the character, but he helped set his look for good.

From the letter to Santa to the Christmas list

The letter to Santa is the ancestor of the gift list. Today, an online Christmas list does the same job, more practically: add your wishes from any website, share it with the whole family, and everyone reserves what they are giving so there are no duplicates under the tree. And for gift swaps between adults, there is Secret Santa.

Frequently asked questions

Was Jesus really born on 25 December?

Nobody knows: the Gospels give neither the day nor the month. The 25 December date was set by the Church in the 4th century.

Did Coca-Cola invent Santa Claus?

No. The character existed long before, and was already often dressed in red. From 1931, Coca-Cola mostly popularised the image of a jolly Santa in red and white.

Where does the Christmas tree come from?

From Alsace and the German-speaking world. The first written mention of a Christmas tree dates from 1521, in Sélestat.

Sources

• Chronograph of 354, Wikipedia, accessed 25 October 2026
• Le sapin, ce héros du mois de décembre, Ville de Paris, accessed 25 October 2026
• Coca-Cola did not create Santa, Fake History Hunter, accessed 25 October 2026