Valentine’s Day is one of the most celebrated traditions in the world. It is believed that it may stem back from the Roman festival of love held in mid-February.
It began to be celebrated as a day of romance in 496 and took its name from one of the three Christian saints named Valentine. The most prominent is the story of the bishop of Rome, who defied the emperor’s orders and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war.
In a modern form, Valentine’s Day began to be celebrated in the United States in 1777 and over time became hugely popular all over the world. Almost every nation has developed its traditions, including Britain and Japan. Hearts, valentines, roses, and lace have been used as symbols of expression of love.
However, such celebration of love is banned in some countries, for example, Pakistan, Iran and Malaysia.
In recent years the officials in Belarus launched a campaign to suppress the celebration of Valentine’s Day and to replace it with flag-waving official patriotic events.
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