Christmas Clipart
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed on December 25. It is celebrated by billions of people around the world, both Christians and non-Christians alike.
Christmas celebrations combine religious and secular customs. From singing Christmas carols to decorating trees and exchanging gifts, Christmas traditions continue to evolve yet remain rooted in bringing loved ones together to spread holiday cheer.
History of Christmas
The earliest origins of Christmas lie with ancient pagan winter solstice festivals. In the 3rd century, the rise of Christianity overlapped with existing midwinter celebrations. Over time, church leaders incorporated certain aspects into the observance of Christmas.
By the High Middle Ages, Christmas had become a prominent holiday intertwined with advent traditions. Christmas feasts, gift-giving, and celebrations contributed to its growth in cultural significance. As Christianity expanded into the New World, Christmas evolved into an increasingly family-centric and secularized celebration.
Religious Significance of Christmas
For billions of Christians worldwide, Christmas holds deep spiritual meaning as the observance of Jesus Christ’s nativity. Biblical accounts tell of Christ being born to the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, visited by shepherds and the three wise men bearing gifts.
Christmas mass, prayers, candlelight vigils, and reenactments of the nativity scene allow Christians to reflect on the incarnation of Jesus as the son of God coming to Earth. By joining in worship, they commemorate and give thanks for the gift of salvation through Christ.
Popular Christmas Traditions
From Christmas trees to Santa Claus, stockings on the mantle to cookies for Santa, secular Christmas traditions now permeate the holiday festivities.
The Christmas tree emerged in 16th century Germany, with the first retail Christmas tree lot opening in 1851. Christmas tree decorating has since become iconic holiday tradition. Likewise, the figure of Santa Claus came from intertwining various fictional gift-givers into a character popularized in the 19th century.
Exchanging small gifts, greeting cards, and church caroling expanded in the 1850s. New York held the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in 1924. Such secular traditions got people into the Christmas spirit and promoted spending.
Popular Christmas Foods & Drinks
Across cultures, enjoying special Christmas meals and treats is customary despite varying regional dishes. A traditional Christmas dinner in the West centers around baked ham or a roast turkey with cranberry sauce, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and vegetables like carrots.
Ethnic Christmas food like tamales, pasta, Chinese takeout or leftovers is now common too. Sweet indulgences include eggnog, hot chocolate, Christmas cookies, gingerbread houses, fruitcake, pies, and Yule logs. In Europe and elsewhere, regional baking and sweets round out the Christmas feast.
Christmas Music
Christmas music includes traditional carols glorifying the nativity of Jesus Christ as well as modern popular tunes celebrating the Christmas spirit.
Carols originated as European folk songs in medieval times. “Joy to the World” remains one of the most widely published carols today. Carols became tradition in Christian church ceremonies and rituals. By the 19th century, caroling door-to-door grew as a seasonal pastime.
Contemporary Christmas songs and albums long predate Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” They occupy a special niche within popular culture and entertainment each holiday season across secular society.
Christmas Movies and TV Specials
Countless Christmas movies and television specials entertain us when the holiday season rolls around again each year. They span decades and genres, from action to animation for viewers young and old. Beloved classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and A Charlie Brown Christmas recirculate every year. We rewatch them for the nostalgia and cozy familiarity. Add in Hallmark-style romance movies, backing holiday films and comedy shows for variety.
Christmas Clipart
Christmas clipart encompasses any artwork, vector images, drawings or illustrations depicting common Christmas themes and imagery. As a category of public domain and royalty-free digital artwork, Christmas clipart offers an easy way to decorate documents and projects. Christmas graphics provide pre-made design elements centering around Christmas icons like Santa hats, reindeer, snowflakes, stockings, ornaments, trees, wreaths, candles, bells, candy canes, stars, angels, and gift boxes. Christmas clipart can include holiday phrases too.
Types of Christmas Clipart
Myriad Christmas clipart choices exist across styles, designs and themes. Categories include:
- Santa Claus: Santa waving, wearing hat, with sleigh and reindeer
- Reindeer: Single reindeer, reindeer heads, flying reindeer silhouettes
- Snowmen: Classic snowmen, snowmen couples, snowmen families
- Trees: Pine trees, decorated trees, backgrounds with trees
- Ornaments and Decorations: Orbs, garlands, strings of lights, bows
- Wreaths and Greenery: Holly, mistletoe, plaid bows, green wreaths
- Angels and Religious: Angels, mangers, crosses, doves
- Misc. Holiday: Presents, stockings, Christmas cards, candy, bells, etc.
Both whimsical, cute styles and traditional, elegant Christmas clipart choices appear. Clipart can feature flat 2D illustrations, designs, and photos or 3D style renderings depending on the source and creator.
Using Christmas Clipart
Christmas clipart gets used in all types of digital and print media, craft projects and physical products. Its festive, public domain graphics prevents reinventing the wheel when incorporating Christmas themes.
Christmas clipart appears across:
- Email newsletters
- Printable DIY craft templates
- Invitations and greeting cards
- Blog posts and articles about Christmas
- Social media posts and ads
- Online products like mugs, shirts, phone cases
- Presentation slides, school work, bulletins
- Packaging and catalogs incorporating Christmas
- Books and eBooks related to Christmas crafts, recipes, traditions
Christmas clipart provides multimedia designers, bloggers, publishers, retailers, and everyday crafters an abundance of ready-made graphical elements that are legally free to use. It saves significant time and money over producing original custom Christmas artwork or photos for projects.
In this page clipartix present 76 christmas clipart images free for designing activities. Lets download Christmas Clipart that you want to use for works or personal uses.