History of Valentine's Day - about love lotteries, saints and messengers of the gods

Some claim that Fleurop invented Valentine's Day, but that's not true. Valentine's Day goes back to the ancient Romans, who celebrated the «Day of Love» in mid-February. This day was dedicated to Juno, the patron goddess of marriage. People brought her flowers to the temple. In addition, a love lottery for unmarried girls took place as part of the fertility festival, the Lupercalia. For this reason, Roman patricians gave their wives flowers on this day.

Then came Christianity and put an end to the loose customs. Instead of love, it was now about saints, but that didn't really appeal any better. In addition, the church now called the day «St. Valentine's Day» because it had introduced name days and dedicated February 14 to St. Valentine. Fortunately, this day was later associated with love again. The first romantic poem about Valentine's Day was written by the Englishman Geoffrey Chaucer in 1383, and the first Valentine's message was written by Duke Charles of Orléans on February 14, 1440. Today, Valentine's Day is known worldwide and revolves around love and flowers.

Fleurop did not invent the day of love. But the company does have something to do with its real founders - the ancient Romans - in that the Fleurop logo features the Roman god Mercury. He is regarded as the messenger of the gods, which is why he is always depicted with winged shoes and a winged hat. This appealed to the Fleurop inventors because the many bouquets with the accompanying messages also must be delivered as quickly as possible.

Since people don't just like to give flowers on Valentine's Day, a single messenger god is not enough. That's why the crews of over 50,000 Fleurop flower shops with messenger god capabilities are on duty around the globe! However, there is one difference between the original Mercury and the one on the Fleurop logo: the latter has a bouquet of flowers in his hand instead of a wand. But he is always quick. And on Valentine's Day ... well, even the original wouldn't be able to beat him.

If you think that the most is spent on Valentine's Day in the USA, you're right. In 2024, Americans spent a total of 25.8 billion US dollars, or 186 dollars per person. Including dogs and cats, because they also get a special treat there on Valentine's Day. Apparently, Singapore's population is also extremely generous on this day. In a survey, 60 % of the population stated that they spend between 100 and 500 dollars on Valentine’s Day.