Christmas is a global celebration which has years of history and many ways of being celebrated.

Every country in the World brings a tradition of its own. As UK has such a diverse community, it would be nice to get to know a little bit about some of the traditions.

It is important to note that not all countries celebrate Christmas on the 25th December.

In Ukraine, for example, the celebration takes place on the 7th January, according to the calendar of the Orthodox Church.

The origin of Christmas as a holiday comes from Rome 336 AD after the emperor Constantine made Christianity the main religion.

At first it was just the church celebrating the birth of Christ, however it became a major festival in around the 9th century.

UK, Germany

Let us start with the traditions in the United Kingdom itself. How did the past influence our current Christmas traditions?

In the Georgian era (1714-1830) there were no Christmas trees to start with.

The main focus of the evening was the fireplace. On Christmas Eve the family would choose a Yule log, wrap it in hazel twigs and put it in the fire, which was then left burning for the twelve days of Christmas.

A piece of the log was kept as they believed it would bring luck to the household for the next twelve months.

It was in the Victorian era that the Christmas tree was introduced to the people of England, by Prince Albert, who grew up in Germany.

At the time in Germany, decorating Christmas trees with candles, fruits, etc. was already a tradition that has settled in.

The Victorians, however, produced the idea of hanging up non-natural ornaments like glass baubles, ribbons on the tree.

The character of Father Christmas and the idea of stockings were also introduced in this era.

Asia

In Asia, the idea of Christmas is relatively new and there was a great Western influence in forming the traditions, so they are quite similar to those of the US.

However, apart from the similarities in traditions such as carolling, gift exchange, family dinners, there are some differences.

For example, in Korea, Santa Claus is called Santa Haraboji (Father Santa) who wears the traditional Korean attire instead of the American red outfit.

India refers to Christmas as Bada Din (or big day). The churches are decorated in vibrant poinsettias and sparkling candles.

Vietnam, after being in France’s control for a very long time, took many traditions from the French, for example eating the log cake on Christmas Day.

Going to church and praying during the Christmas period is also known to be very important in Vietnam.