Every February 14, the world turns red.Roses spike in price. Restaurants fill. Jewellery adverts bloom. Social media overflows with filtered affection. But Valentine’s Day did not begin with chocolate. It began — as many traditions do — in blood and ambiguity.
The Origins: A Saint or Several?
Valentine’s Day traces its roots to Saint Valentine, though history is frustratingly unclear about which Valentine we are talking about.
There were at least two early Christian martyrs named Valentine in the 3rd century Roman Empire. One popular legend claims he secretly performed marriages for young couples when Emperor Claudius II allegedly banned them, believing single men made better soldiers.
For this defiance, Valentine was executed — traditionally dated to 14 February around 269 AD. Whether this romantic rebellion is fact or folklore is debated. The early church’s records are thin. The legend grew later.
The Pagan Connection
Some historians link Valentine’s Day to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February — a fertility rite involving rituals far less sentimental than today’s candlelit dinners.
When Christianity spread through Rome, many pagan festivals were absorbed, reinterpreted, or overlaid with saints’ days. Valentine’s feast day appears to have replaced older seasonal celebrations — transforming fertility symbolism into romantic devotion.
When Did It Become Romantic?
The association with romantic love did not firmly take root until the Middle Ages.
In 14th-century England and France, February was believed to mark the beginning of birds’ mating season. Poets like Geoffrey Chaucer helped cement the connection between St Valentine’s Day and courtly love.
By the 18th century in Britain, exchanging handwritten love notes became common. By the 19th century, industrial printing turned it into a commercial greeting- card phenomenon.
Then America industrialised it. Then the world copied it.
s It Celebrated Globally? Yes — but not uniformly.
Valentine’s Day is widely observed in: United States
United Kingdom
Europe
Latin America
Japan (where women traditionally give chocolates)
South Korea (which has multiple “romance” days across the calendar)
India’s urban centres
Much of Southeast Asia
However, in some countries it faces resistance or restriction:
Certain conservative societies criticise it as Western cultural importation.
In parts of the Middle East, public celebration is limited or unofficial.
In some countries, it is marked quietly rather than publicly.
Even where celebrated, it has evolved.
In Japan, for example, Valentine’s Day (14 February) is followed by “White Day” (14 March), when men reciprocate. In Finland and Estonia, the day emphasises friendship more than romance.
Globally, it is less about sainthood — and more about social signalling.
The Commercial Takeover
Modern Valentine’s Day is driven by:
Greeting card industries Florists
Restaurants
Jewellery brands
Digital advertising
Billions are spent annually worldwide.
The martyr has been replaced by marketing.
But commerce does not necessarily invalidate meaning. Rituals survive because people adapt them to emotional needs.
Sri Lanka and Valentine’s Day
In Sri Lanka, Valentine’s Day is largely urban, youth- driven, and commercially amplified.
It is celebrated in malls, cafés, and schools — sometimes criticised, sometimes embraced.Like many global imports, it sits alongside local traditions rather than replacing them.
NEWSLINE Verdict
Valentine’s Day began as a murky martyr’s feast.
It evolved into medieval poetry. It became a Victorian card exchange.
It is now a global commercial ritual.
Whether you see it as cultural colonisation, harmless romance, or capitalist genius depends less on history — and more on perspective.
But one fact remains: A third-century execution somehow became a global celebration of love.
History, it seems, has a sense of irony.
