Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, is perhaps the most common figure during the holiday season.
Interestingly, many people would never imagine Santa Claus without his red and white coat; and beard.
Most people will tell you that the modern Santa is dressed to match the red-and-white colours of a bottle of Coke and was popularised by adverts of the soft drink maker.
Santa has been a symbol of the Christmas season and brings toys to good girls and boys on Christmas Eve.
He is much admired for his piety and kindness. English legend explains that Santa visits each home on Christmas Eve.
In the US, Santa is often depicted as flying to homes on Christmas Eve.
The story of Father Christmas story stretches back to the 3rd century.
Santa Claus has evolved from the traditional tale of Saint Nicholas, a Greek monk who spent his life helping the poor, vulnerable and sick.
One of his most famous acts of kindness was when he saved three sisters from a life of slavery and prostitution by paying a dowry - usually paid by a groom to the father of the bride in some religions - to their father to prevent them from being sold, so they could marry respectful men.
Santa nowadays can be attributed to generations of stories, poems and more recently, television.
When it comes to why Santa is red, historians have taken a look at the clothing of saints during the early centuries.
Saint Nicholas lived at a time when their robes were red and white.
Nicholas is thought to have worn red and white attire, which could be one of the reasons why our modernised Father Christmas wears those colours.
But did Santa ever wear other colours?
Beginning in the 16th century, Father Christmas was introduced to the UK and was the Santa figure of the Christmas season.
Like Saint Nicholas, he was a character filled with cheer, goodwill and gifts for everybody to enjoy.
However, Father Christmas wore green rather than red, supposedly to symbolise the coming of spring.
Over the years, Father Christmas and Santa Claus have become one, which means they both wear red.
Early depictions were in black and white
Clement Clarke Moore helped change that image. In 1823, he published a poem known today as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."
It describes a Santa "dressed all in fur," with red, rosy cheeks and a beard as white as snow. This helped shape Santa's physical appearance but didn't give him his red dress code yet.
When Santa started wearing red
The tradition of him wearing red began in the 1870s with the American cartoonist Thomas Nast, who introduced the red suit and cap, white fur lining and buckled black belt.
Nast produced numerous drawings of Santa for Harper’s Weekly over more than 20 years and, having first portrayed him in the Stars and Stripes
The original pictures featured Santa wearing a tan outfit, but over the next 30 years, it was gradually transformed into a red suit.
The fat and jolly Santa Claus that we know and love today was first created for an advertising campaign by Coca-Cola.
In the 1920s, images of Santa in a red coat were featured in magazines and newspapers.
Haddon Sundblom is the man who is credited with the creation of the modern-day Santa.
He was commissioned by Coca-Cola in 1931, when the Great Depression was well and truly underway and the company wanted to bring something new to the table, according to Factsite.com.
In 1902, Santa graced the cover of "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" dressed in green. But Red eventually won out.
Santa and Coca-Cola
Depictions from illustrator Norman Rockwell helped establish red as the colour Santa donned best.
Coca-Cola also affirmed Santa's signature red suit. Artist Haddon Sundblom created an ad for the company in 1931 and continued to produce similar images for more than three decades.
Today, Santas come in all shapes and sizes, and they come by foot, motorcycle, or sleigh, but one thing is always certain ... Santa Claus dresses in red.
In the US, Santa Claus is often depicted as flying from his home to home on his magic sleigh led by his reindeer.
Santa enters each home through the chimney, which is why empty Christmas stockings—once empty socks, now often dedicated stockings made for the occasion—are hung by the Chimney, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The stockings can be filled with candy canes and other treats or small toys.
Santa Claus and his wife, Mrs Claus, are also depicted as coming from a North Pole home, and children write letters to Santa and track Santa’s progress around the world on Christmas Eve.
Children often leave cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer on Christmas Eve.
Santa Claus keeps a naughty list and a nice list to determine who deserves gifts on Christmas morning, and parents often invoke these lists as a way to ensure their children are on their best behaviour.
