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A Christmas decoration is any of several types of ornamentation used at Christmas time. The traditional colours of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red. Blue and white are often used to represent winter, or sometimes Hanukkah, which occurs around the same time. Gold and silver are also very common, as are just about any other metallic colours. Typical images on Christmas decorations include Baby Jesus, Father Christmas, Santa Claus, and the star of Bethlehem. Typical winter icons include snowflakes, snowmen, icicles, and even penguins and polar bears. In many countries, such as Sweden, people start to set up their Christmas decorations after the start of Advent. In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas decorations are removed are Twelfth Night and Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations. Leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas is historically considered to be inauspicious. In many countries, there are many different types of decorations used depending on the traditions and available resources. ==Tree== The Christmas tree is sometimes explained as a Christianization of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the winter solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an adaptation of pagan tree worship.〔 The English-language phrase "Christmas tree" is first recorded in 1835〔Harper, Douglas, (Christ ), ''Online Etymology Dictionary,'' 2001.〕 and represents an importation from the German language. The modern Christmas tree tradition, though, is believed to have begun in Germany in the 18th century〔van Renterghem, Tony. ''When Santa was a shaman.'' St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1995. ISBN 1-56718-765-X〕 though many argue that Martin Luther began the tradition in the 16th century.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 The Chronological History of the Christmas Tree )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Christmas Tradition – The Christmas Tree Custom )〕 From Germany the custom was introduced to England, first via Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, and then more successfully by Prince Albert during the early reign of Queen Victoria. The influential 1840s image of the Queen's decorated evergreen was republished in the U.S, and as the first widely circulated picture of a decorated Christmas tree in America, the custom there spread.〔Shoemaker, Alfred Lewis. (1959) Christmas in Pennsylvania: a folk-cultural study. Edition 40. p.52,53. Stackpole Books 1999. ISBN 0-8117-0328-2〕 Christmas trees may be decorated with lights and ornaments. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Christmas decoration」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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