Colors of Advent
Advent and Christmas have traditional liturgical colors. The colors of Advent are purple and pink, while the colors of Christmas are white and gold. Christmas decorations in these colors make beautiful decorating themes.
White and gold have so much sparkle and seem to bring the snowy outdoors inside with the added warmth of the gold of the fireside flames. Nowadays people also use clear beautiful blues at Advent. These colors can be distinct, or you can use all three in harmonies.
My Advent candles have settled into the choice for a cream white each year. I set them off with swirls of white spun glass snow around the bottom of the log. What colors did you choose?
The Jesse tree symbol for today is the beautiful blue marble of the globe. The earth as seen from space is a heavenly blue (surprise!) all swirled with the white clouds of our atmosphere, a jewel in the universe.
Traditional Colors of Advent
Color meanings:
- WHITE: Symbolizes the Creator, light, joy, purity, innocence, glory and perfection.
- GOLD symbolizes what is precious and valuable, and so symbolizes majesty, joy, and celebration. Because of its brightness metallic gold also symbolizes the presence of God. It is most often used with white for high Holy Days and festival days of the Church Year, especially the season of Christmas
- VIOLET: Denotes mourning and penitence and is also symbolic of humility, suffering sympathy and fasting.
- PURPLE: Symbolizes “…the regal color, referring to the triumphal entry of the King of Kings. It is also the color of penitence, referring to the purple garments on our Lord when they mocked Him.” (John 19:2; Mark 15:17)
- GREEN: Signifies hope; it is the universal color of nature.
- BRIGHT BLUE symbolizes the sky or heaven, where heralds proclaimed Jesus’ birth. It can symbolize the waters of Genesis 1, the beginning of a new creation. Blue was the color often appointed for Advent in medieval and also in later English use [ * ]. It is increasingly used for Advent in Protestant churches to distinguish it from Lent.
- PINK symbolizes joy and happiness. In various churches it is used either for the Third or Forth Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy at the impending birth of Jesus.
- ROSE also is used to symbolize joy and happiness, and is an alternate color for the Third or Fourth Sunday of Advent.
(descriptions taken from http://c-m-e.org/core/Liturgical.htm)
Decorating Idea
or a book 🙂
Marbelize your own glass ornaments. Use white, blue and green paints for an “out of this world” globe ornament. You can use any combination to symbolize meanings or simply match your decorating theme.
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Meanings for Christmas Hues
As we all know, however, it is the stunning combination of red and green which most dominates our color choices for Christmas. The green likely comes from the abundant use of greenery in the form of evergreens which deck the house, and the red from the firelight glow of embers on a cold winters night. Or maybe it is just the bright and festive look of this contrasting color combination, but red and green are everywhere and singularly ubiquitous at Christmastime.
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Green for the life, red for the blood of the Savior, or combining the traditional advent colors to highlight the gospel’s themes.
The bible verse for today is one of the most beloved:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
This earth, and the crown of its creation, you, are so very important to God. The plan of God was never to discard mankind, but to save each person who wandered and restore men and the earth to something of eternal worth and beauty through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is the coming of Jesus, once awaited and prophesied, now looked back upon, that saved the world, that gave us salvation.
We know that Jesus will once again return to finish the plan He started so long ago. He paid for our salvation, after coming as a baby and living a fully human existence. The final redemption of earth, earthly existence, and a new creation will begin at this second coming.
So, Advent not only relives the awaiting of the Savior, but looks toward the coming of the Lord, the final time.
