Saint Valentine’s Day, commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.
The traditional western holiday has grown to be observed in many countries around the globe, despite some efforts to fight its adoption by religious and cultural groups. As couples exchange traditional gifts of flowers and chocolate, they fuel a robust industry in the United States, where Valentine’s Day spending this year is expected to reach nearly $16 billion. Gathered here are images of this Valentine’s Day from all around the world.
Sontaya Tiemjun, left, and Praputson Mahavong, right, swing out on rappelling ropes during their wedding ceremony Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011 in Prachinburi province, Thailand. The mountainside ceremony has become a favorite of adventure seeking Thai couples looking to marry near or on Valentine’s Day. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Rose petals fall as Thai brides and grooms look up from a cliff side while rappelling during wedding ceremonies Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011 in Prachinburi province, Thailand. The mountainside ceremony has become a favorite of adventure seeking Thai couples looking to marry near or on Valentine’s Day. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Performers gather during a senior citizens parade celebrating Saint Valentine’s Day in Guatemala City, Friday, Feb. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The personal profile page of an applicant hangs from bushes during a matchmaking event at People’s Square in downtown Shanghai February 13, 2011. The page displays details such as her age, income, occupation and desired character traits in a prospective mate. The event is organized by dating companies and parents hoping to find partners for their children during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, a day before couples around the world celebrate Valentine’s day on February 14. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
Florist Susanne holds up roses for the Valentine’s Day outside a flower shop in Germering near Munich, Germany on February 14, 2011. (REUTERS/Michaela Rehle)
Palestinians buy flowers for Valentine’s Day in a shop in Gaza City, Monday, Feb. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Journalists take pictures and videos as a gay couple kisses at the location where a kissing contest was planning to be held on Valentine’s Day at a business district in central Beijing February 14, 2011. Chinese homosexual groups sought for public support of same-sex marriage by organizing promotional campaigns on Valentine’s Day. The homosexual couples were trying to take part in the kissing contest as part of their campaigns, but the contest was canceled by the organizers claiming that the former participants dropped out. (REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic)
Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena activists burn greeting cards during a protest against Valentine’s Day celebrations in Jammu, India, Monday, Feb. 14, 2011. Hard-line Hindu groups routinely protest against the perceived invasion of Western culture into India. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
A vendor sells balloons tied in the shape of a heart for Valentine’s Day in Beijing Monday, Feb. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
In this Feb. 8, 2011 photo Hewitt Bruce, center, dances with Betty Fisch, left, at Edgewater Pointe Estates retirement community in Boca Raton, Florida Women often so greatly outnumber men in retirement communities that Valentine’s Day can be a lonely time. But one development has found a solution to its perennial shortage of men at its dances: They’re importing them. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A Pakistani boy selling balloons on Valentine’s day walks along a road looking for customers in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, Feb. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Muslim women shout a slogan as they show placards during the Anti-Valentine’s Day Campaign in Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur February 11, 2011. Malaysia on Friday launched a campaign to raise awareness among Muslims that Valentine’s Day celebration is not a part of Islamic religious practice. The placards read "Beware the trap of Valentine’s Day." (REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad)
Activists of the right-wing Hindu organisation the Shiv Sena damage Valentines day related products during a demonstration denouncing Valentine’s Day in Amritsar on February 13, 2011. The Shiv Sena strongly oppose Valentine’s Day celebrations citing them as a cultural invasion on the Hindu way of life. (NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images)
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