Top 12 Fascinating Facts About Valentine's Day

If you're planning to gift your loved one a beautiful bouquet, consider including a card explaining the meaning behind the flowers—your partner will be delighted and touched.

• Red roses symbolize passionate, intense love, or an all-consuming, fiery love for the person receiving them.
• Pink roses represent true love, often associated with purity and tenderness, conveying a gentle affection, or could be seen as a promise of lasting love.
• Yellow roses are often seen as inappropriate for romantic occasions due to their association with betrayal or lack of loyalty. However, for some, they symbolize a playful question: “I love you, do you love me?”
• White roses symbolize pure, innocent love, and elegance, or can represent a silent, unspoken love.
• Lavender roses symbolize the intense, immediate attraction between two people—often referred to as love at first sight.
• The combination of red and white roses represents a union between two lovers, blending both passionate and pure love.

Since 1902, chocolate has become a staple gift on Valentine's Day. It’s not just a simple treat; it evokes emotions as deep as a real love story. According to experts, the Aztecs were the first to give chocolate as a gift. Back then, chocolate was used as currency and as a special drink among the nobility. The Aztec people believed that chocolate came from pure spiritual origins, symbolizing supernatural energy and seductive power, earning it the title of 'the gift of the gods.' This is why chocolate became an essential part of engagement and wedding ceremonies.

Today, the tradition of gifting chocolate continues. Each bite of chocolate carries a mixture of bitterness, sweetness, and smoothness—much like the emotions experienced in love: sometimes sweet, sometimes bittersweet. It’s a taste that mirrors the intoxicating feelings one experiences in love. Chocolate blends emotion, passion, and romance, making it the most popular gift for couples on Valentine's Day. Therefore, chocolate is more than just a food—it's a symbol of love.

The traditional Valentine, also known as 'Red Valentine,' takes place every year on February 14th. It is a day when the world celebrates pure and sincere love among couples, as well as between friends of the opposite sex in their youthful, romantic stage. The day also holds meaning for married couples and close family members.

The story goes that long ago in Rome, there was a cruel and tyrannical emperor who believed that married men would become weak and could no longer be effective soldiers. To maintain the strength of his army, he issued a decree forbidding marriage, which left many couples feeling powerless in the face of such an oppressive law. Despite their frustrations, they dared not protest against the powerful empire. However, a bishop named Valentine recognized the injustice of the law. He sympathized with the young lovers who had hopes for a future together. Secretly, Valentine defied the emperor’s decree and conducted secret weddings for couples who wished to marry. Over time, he helped many young lovers unite. Tragically, on February 14th, 273, the same day he was executed, Valentine’s actions were immortalized, and from that day on, February 14th was known as Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day. Valentine became regarded as the patron saint of love for humanity.

Today, Valentine's Day is celebrated worldwide, especially among couples, as a day to honor passionate love. It is a time when people exchange love-related gifts to express their feelings for one another.

Love is an incredibly intense feeling that is hard to put into words. It often seems that we love each other even more after sweet dreams, so one Valentine's Day just doesn't feel like enough. This is why White Valentine Day was created in Japan and quickly became popular with young people worldwide, including in Vietnam.

The origin of White Valentine Day is as follows: In 1965, a young candy seller in Japan wanted to reciprocate the affection of a girl who had secretly admired him on Red Valentine Day. He gave her a large box of white, snow-like candy. This is the story behind the creation of White Valentine Day.

White Valentine Day is also known as White Day, and it falls exactly one month after Red Valentine Day, on March 14th. It is a chance for those who received gifts on February 14th to return the affection to their significant others. In Vietnam, some girls who received a love confession on February 14th from someone they also have feelings for, or someone they want to give a chance to, often use White Day, March 14th, as the perfect occasion to reciprocate that love with a gift.

Don’t misunderstand the word 'Black' in Black Valentine (Black Day), celebrated every year on April 14th. Contrary to what it might seem, this is not a day with a negative meaning. In fact, it’s a special day celebrated by young people in South Korea. This day is dedicated to those who haven’t yet found love or to those who proudly embrace the single life.

So, don’t feel bad if you haven’t found your perfect match yet. Instead, put on a stylish black outfit, enjoy a traditional black bean noodle dish (jajangmyeon), or treat yourself to some dark chocolate to celebrate your own independence.

As mentioned earlier, each color of rose carries a unique message of love. However, it’s not enough just to understand the meaning behind each rose color. You must also learn the rules for giving them to your special someone to truly express your love. Here are a few essential rules to keep in mind:

• Choose an odd number of roses, like 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 if you plan to give less than 10 roses.
• To express gratitude to your partner and show your love, consider giving 12 roses.
• If you want to show your chivalry, give 24 roses.
• If you’re planning to confess your feelings through roses, give 36 roses. Alternatively, a single rose can be just as powerful in expressing your love.

Valentine's Day was introduced and embraced in Vietnam in 2008, with many couples choosing this romantic day to celebrate their weddings. In fact, a mass wedding event was even held in Da Lat. However, in countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and other Islamic nations, Valentine's Day activities are banned, including the giving of red roses, as they believe the holiday promotes relationships outside of marriage.

In Japan, on Valentine's Day, there's a tradition known as 'giri-choko', where women give chocolates to men as a gesture of obligation ('giri' means duty and 'choko' is chocolate). Then, on White Day, which falls on March 14th, men are expected to reciprocate by giving gifts, typically white in color, to the women who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day.

According to a survey by an American newspaper, the people who receive the most Valentine's Day cards are teachers, followed by children, mothers, and wives.

It seems that on Valentine's Day, women are given just as much attention as they are on other special days dedicated to them, like Mother's Day or International Women's Day, right?

In the late 20th century, the classic Valentine's gifts typically consisted of roses and chocolates, delicately wrapped in red satin and presented in heart-shaped boxes. However, during the 1980s, the diamond industry began marketing diamonds as the ultimate gift for this romantic occasion.

In fact, Valentine's Day gifts have evolved to become more diverse. As it's a day dedicated to love, many people use it as an opportunity to express their feelings—whether confessing love or celebrating a relationship. While chocolates and flowers are still popular, long-term couples or married couples may opt for more practical gifts. Depending on the length of the relationship and how well you know each other, gifts could include belts, wallets (for men), perfume, phones, cosmetics, or handbags.

The key is that the gift serves as a means to convey your feelings. The recipient will appreciate the sentiment behind the gift, so don't worry about its material value as long as it comes from the heart!

In the year 269 AD, in a distant land, there was a tyrannical emperor who sought to forbid couples from falling in love. Despite his efforts, a priest named Valentine secretly helped couples unite. As a result, the emperor ordered Valentine’s execution as a warning to others.

On the day of his execution, Valentine left a note for the young woman he loved, thanking her for the friendship and love she had given him. At the end of the note, he signed it 'From your Valentine.' This act marked the beginning of an annual tradition, and from that moment on, February 14th became a day to celebrate eternal love, a love that nothing could separate.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated worldwide as a day of love, with millions of cards exchanged each year. The Greeting Card Association of America estimates that about 1 billion Valentine cards are sent globally each year, with 190 million being sent within the United States alone. Half of those cards are given to family members, particularly children. If you include cards made in schools, the total number can reach 1 billion. While cards are widely exchanged, few know that the first Valentine card was sent by a French nobleman named Charles, the Duke of Orleans. After being imprisoned in the Tower of London for 25 years following the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, he sent his wife a Valentine poem expressing his love and longing. Tragically, his beloved wife passed away before the card ever reached her.

It wasn't until the 16th century that sending Valentine cards became a widespread tradition. Today, Valentine cards are available in a variety of shapes, colors, and designs. Many young people even make their own cards, writing personal messages to their loved ones.

The iconic heart shape associated with Valentine's Day traces its roots back to a rare plant called Silphium, which belonged to the Fennel family. This plant was commonly used in cooking spicy dishes and was also known for its contraceptive and abortive properties.

Today, Silphium is nearly extinct, and it is believed that the last specimen of the plant was served as a meal to the emperor during the reign of Nero. The image of its seed has survived, however, through depictions on ancient coins from the city of Cyrene.