December '25

During its early rise, Coca-Cola had to solve an unpleasant logistical issue. Barrels with this non-alcoholic beverage looked just like barrels with alcohol in them, risking being erroneously taxed as a result.

To make the barrel identification as easy as possible, the company started colouring the barrels in a bright shade of red. This proved to be a masterful marketing technique as well, and so this saturated red became the company colour.

When Coca-Cola started looking for a cheap but recognisable marketing face in the 1930s, Nest’s bright red, public-domain rendition of Santa was chosen. Because the old man with the long white beard does not age, the connection has lasted nearly a hundred years, leaving red as the official colour of Christmas.

I of course do not wish to make the case that your red decorations have more to do with the American Civil War and the colourful soda than with the birthday of baby Jesus. One could wonder, though, whether blue would not have a deeper meaning as the official colour of Christmas. For many centuries, it has been the colour of the Virgin Mary, who in a manger in the cold winter had to give birth to a not-entirely-consensual baby.

On the other hand, tradition is tradition, and we can pretend that the red symbolises, say, a mother’s love for her newborn demigod infant. Actually, red and blue go quite well together.