Is Santa Red or Green?

Santa is famous for his red suit today, but it hasn’t always been that way. Look back through Christmas history and you’ll find Father Christmas dressed in green, red, yellow and even blue. In Britain, green was once a particularly familiar choice.

So, is Santa red or green? Both colours have a place in his story. The journey from one to the other takes us through centuries of Christmas tradition, from Saint Nicholas and Victorian Father Christmas to the red-suited Santa children recognise today.

Yes, Santa Really Did Wear Green

Long before the red suit became instantly recognisable, Father Christmas was often pictured wearing green, particularly in Victorian Britain. During this period, there wasn’t one agreed-upon outfit. Illustrations showed him in green, red, yellow and even blue robes, with green appearing regularly.

And green suited the Father Christmas of the time. He wasn’t quite the present-delivering Santa children know today, but more a personification of Christmas itself: a warm, jolly figure associated with feasting, celebration and the greenery of the season, often pictured with holly and ivy. The familiar red suit would come later.

Before Santa, There Was Saint Nicholas

To go further back in the story, we need to meet Saint Nicholas. A fourth-century bishop from Myra, in what is now Turkey, Saint Nicholas became known for his generosity. As a bishop, he would have worn the traditional vestments of his role, including a long robe and mitre.

His story travelled across Europe over many centuries. In the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition that grew from Saint Nicholas, he is still pictured in red bishop’s robes today. That gives red a much longer place in Santa’s story than you might expect — and one that certainly didn’t begin with a 20th-century advertising campaign.

Even Santa’s name made a journey of its own. Dutch settlers carried their Sinterklaas traditions to America and, over time, “Sinterklaas” became “Santa Claus”. It was another piece of the story falling into place.

When Father Christmas Wore Green

Britain’s Father Christmas followed a slightly different path. Throughout much of the Victorian era, particularly from around 1870 to 1895, he appeared in illustrations wearing several different colours, with green one of the most familiar.

There’s an even earlier green-robed Christmas character you may recognise. In Charles Dickens’s 1843 A Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas Present is described wearing a deep green robe trimmed with white fur. Warm, larger than life and surrounded by festive abundance, the character shares much with the Father Christmas imagery that followed.

Over time, Britain’s Father Christmas and America’s Santa Claus began to look increasingly alike. By the 1920s, red had become the dominant colour on both sides of the Atlantic. Green Father Christmas didn’t simply disappear one Christmas; traditions rarely change that neatly. Instead, different stories and images gradually blended into the Santa families recognise today.

The Making of the Red-Suited Santa

One of the most persistent Christmas myths is that Coca-Cola changed Santa’s suit from green to red. It makes for a memorable story, but the timeline tells us something different. Santa had already been appearing in red for decades before Coca-Cola’s famous Christmas advertising began.

American cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa for Harper’s Weekly between 1863 and 1886, working from the description in Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas. Across those illustrations, Nast’s Santa gradually developed from a smaller, fur-clad figure into something much closer to the Santa we know today. By 1881, he was already appearing in his characteristic red suit — around 50 years before Coca-Cola’s famous campaign began.

(Image Source: Coca-Cola: https://www.coca-cola.com/gb/en/social/coca-cola-christmas-in-great-britain-/coca-cola-and-father-christmas)

The Coca-Cola Myth

Coca-Cola didn’t make Santa red, but it did help make one particular version of red-suited Santa famous around the world. Beginning in 1931, illustrator Haddon Sundblom painted Santa for Coca-Cola’s Christmas advertising, creating a warm, rosy-cheeked, larger-than-life character in that unmistakable red and white suit.

Those illustrations appeared for decades and reached an enormous audience. Rather than inventing red Santa, Coca-Cola helped popularise and standardise an image that already existed. Where earlier generations had seen Santa and Father Christmas in different clothes, colours and styles, one familiar red-suited figure became increasingly recognisable around the world.

From Green Robes to the Famous Red Suit

4th century: Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, wears the traditional robes and mitre associated with his role.

1823: Clement Clarke Moore’s poem A Visit from St. Nicholas describes a fur-clad, sleigh-riding Christmas visitor, without giving his outfit a particular colour.

1843: Charles Dickens’s Ghost of Christmas Present appears in a deep green robe bordered with white fur, creating one of the most recognisable early images of a jolly, green-robed festive figure.

1863–1886: Thomas Nast’s illustrations for Harper’s Weekly help shape the American Santa Claus, including depictions of him in his now-familiar red.

1870–1895: British Father Christmas appears in a genuine mix of colours, including green, red, yellow and blue.

1920s: Red becomes increasingly dominant as British Father Christmas and American Santa Claus traditions blend.

1931 onwards: Haddon Sundblom’s Coca-Cola illustrations help popularise a consistent image of the warm, red-suited Santa around the world.

Red, Green and a Christmas Tradition Centuries in the Making

Today, Santa is red. But a green Father Christmas isn’t an invention or an unusual modern alternative. Green has a genuine place in British Christmas history, alongside the red that eventually became his signature colour.

The Santa children recognise now has been shaped over hundreds of years: part Saint Nicholas, part Father Christmas and part American Santa Claus, with stories and traditions passed between countries and generations. Perhaps that’s why he feels as though he has always been here. His clothes may have changed over the centuries, but the tradition of welcoming Santa into Christmas has remained.

Bring the tradition home with a Letter to Santa Pack, explore our Santa letter packages or discover more festive surprises in our Christmas gifts collection.