IMAGE COURTESY OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Originally published January 24, 2023

People across the United States and around the world celebrate Valentine’s Day every February 14.

Gifts such as flowers and candy are exchanged between loved ones and some celebrate in the name of St. Valentine. But who was St.Valentine and where did we get these traditions?

The history of Valentine’s Day is still a mystery, but historians know that February has always been celebrated as the month of romance and has both Christian and ancient Roman traditions.

History.com tells a legend that explains that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century.

“When Emperor Claudius ll decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men”

Valentine found this to be unfair, so he performed marriages for young people in private.

History.com also suggests that Valentine may have been killed for helping Christians escape a harsh Roman prison where they were beaten and tortured.

Although the truth about who Valentine was is a bit unclear, all the stories highlight that he was a sympathetic, heroic, and romantic figure.

Eight-grader Yuyu Santiago said,”[I thought] it was named after an Italian guy or something like that.”

Some believe that. Valentine’s Day was placed in the middle of the month to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia.

“[Lupercalia] celebrated the coming of spring, including fertility rites…” the website Britannia.com said.

Santiago thought the holiday started after World War l and the Great Depression.

“I didn’t think people were really thinking about love while a lot of dark things were happening at the time,” Santiago said.

Cupid, the Roman god of love, is often portrayed as an angel launching arrows of love at unsuspected lovers.

“Cupid was the son of Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods, and Venus, the goddess of love,” Britannia.com said.

In some cases, Cupid is portrayed wearing body armor like Mars, the god of war, to perhaps show ironic similarities between war and romance. It could also represent love's invincibility.

Traditions such as sending Valentines started appearing around the 1500s.

“By the middle of the 18th [century], it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange [valentines] or handwritten notes,” History.com said.

Around 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making the holiday the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, Christmas being the first.

Birds are also a huge symbol of love in some places.

“Because it was thought that the [birds] mating season begins in mid-February…” Britannia.com said.

Traditional gifts such as candy and flowers more specifically red roses, a symbol of beauty and love, are also exchanged.