Inside seven lesser-known Valentine's Day traditions from around the world - including naming a roach after your ex and mass marriages

In some parts of the world, Valentine's Day traditions are more than gifting rosesSome traditions include celebrating friendship and conducting mass marriagesREAD MORE: One in 20 Brits say Valentine's Day is too expensive to celebrate

There’s no better time to show the special someone in your life how much they mean to you than Valentine’s Day – an entire day dedicated to that small yet mighty four-letter word: love!

With February 14 fast approaching, many loved-up couples are hastily planning dinners, buying gifts and setting up dating partners.

But, in some parts of the world, Valentine’s Day is more than handing your partner a bouquet of flowers or serenading them with poetry – it involves some intense and rather bizarre practices in declaring your love.

While chocolates and roses are common ways to show your appreciation and adoration for loved ones on Valentine’s Day, mass marriages and naming cockroaches after an ex-partner are more conventional in other communities.

In one particular nation, the usual practice of females receiving chocolate from males is reversed – with men lavished with sweet treats by their female partners.

Here are seven of these lesser-known traditions that different times, places and cultures have commemorated February 14.

In some parts of the world, Valentine's Day is more than handing your partner a bouquet of flowers or serenading them with poetry - it involves some intense and rather bizarre practices

In some parts of the world, Valentine’s Day is more than handing your partner a bouquet of flowers or serenading them with poetry – it involves some intense and rather bizarre practices

Bouquets of flowers with hidden meanings in the United States

In the 19th century, roses were less of a common choice when gifting bouquets of flowers to loved ones – instead, different species and colours of flora were selected to express a particular sentiment, according to History.com.

Elizabeth White Nelson, an associate professor of history at the University of Nevada and author of Market Sentiments: Middle-Class Market Culture in 19th-Century America, says how 19th century flower dictionaries gave meanings to every species.

For Valentine’s Day, she said: ‘The idea was that you could give a bouquet that was not just a bouquet of flowers. It had a whole message encoded into the flowers.’

A bouquet of snowdrops represented hope, while a bunch of yellow acacia represented concealed love, and to receive either meant the sender wished to express secret feelings of adoration and hoped they would be reciprocated.

The professor explains how sending bouquets in the 19th century depended on who you were and what kind of flowers you had access to, which she says was ‘a very small group of people in the middle of the winter in the United States.’

In the 19th century, roses were less of a common choice when gifting bouquets of flowers to loved ones - instead, different species and colours of were selected to express a sentiment

In the 19th century, roses were less of a common choice when gifting bouquets of flowers to loved ones – instead, different species and colours of were selected to express a sentiment

Pig and gingerbread inspired gifts in Germany

In Germany, it is tradition to incorporate pigs and gingerbread into gifts on Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day, called Valentinstag in German, only took hold in Germany after the end of World War II.

Since then, Germans have put their own twist on the day, including gifting pig-related items on February 14, as the animal symbolises luck in Germany.

Meanwhile, it is also common for Germans to give out large heart-shaped gingerbread cookies, known as lebkuchen, to loved ones for Valentine’s Day.

It is common for Germans to give out large heart-shaped gingerbread cookies, known as lebkuchen, to loved ones for Valentine's Day (Photo: Getty)

It is common for Germans to give out large heart-shaped gingerbread cookies, known as lebkuchen, to loved ones for Valentine’s Day (Photo: Getty)

Puzzle purse gifts in England and the United States

In the 18th and 19th centuries, puzzle purses were all the range when gifting a heartfelt present to loved ones on Valentine’s Day.

A puzzle purse is made entirely of paper, which is folded and containing parts of a message or verses written on different corners.

With the puzzle purse intended to be read in a specific order, folds were usually numbered so the recipient knew how to proceed onto the next message.

Unfolding one part – and, in turn, undoing the puzzle – revealed a section of writing, which sometimes led to a small gift waiting in the centre.

Men receiving chocolate in Japan 

In Japan, typical gender roles are reversed on Valentine’s Day, with women traditionally offering Valentine’s chocolates to men.

The origin of the practice stems from a chocolate manufacturer’s suggestion in 1958 that women use Valentine’s chocolates to confess romantic feelings, as reported by History.com.

Japanese department stores also promoted the practice in the 1970s, which inspired Japan’s White Day, which is known as the nation’s reverse Valentine’s Day, according to BBC News.

Women gift different types of chocolate to express different sentiments about a person, with Honmei choco – which means true feelings chocolate – going to male romantic interests.

Giri choco – or, obligation chocolate – is offered to male colleagues or classmates, while tomo choco – friend chocolate – is gifted to friends of any gender.

However, the desire to distribute obligation chocolate has been declining, with a 2017 poll revealing that less than 40 percent of women intended to hand out giri choco.

Japanese women who follow the gender-specific tradition have their own day to receive presents from the males in their lives when White Day arrives on March 14.

In Japan, typical gender roles are reversed on Valentine's Day, with women traditionally offering Valentine's chocolates to men (Photo: Getty)

In Japan, typical gender roles are reversed on Valentine’s Day, with women traditionally offering Valentine’s chocolates to men (Photo: Getty)

Celebrating Black Love Day in the United States 

In African-American communities in the United States, Black Love Day is celebrated on February 13.

In 1993, Ayo Handy-Kendi, founder of the African American Holiday Association, was inspired to start Black Love Day after seeing Malcolm X’s assassination depicted in the biopic Malcolm X.

She explained that she wanted a holiday to focus on ‘increasing peace and stopping violence’ and based it on an alternative date that has not ‘evolved from European culture.’

Instituting ‘a value system based on principles, like Kwanzaa’ Handy-Kendi says of Black Love Day: ‘The five tenets were showing love for the creator, showing love for ourselves, showing love for the Black family, the Black community and the race.’

Traci Parker, an associate professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, says of Black Love Day: ‘To have a place where love can be celebrated, especially in a community where it has been historically attacked, is really important.’

In African-American communities in the United States, Black Love Day is celebrated on February 13 (Photo: Getty)

In African-American communities in the United States, Black Love Day is celebrated on February 13 (Photo: Getty)

Mass marriages in the Philippines 

In the Philippines, it is common to for mass weddings to take place around the country on Valentine’s Day.

The ceremonies are part of an incentive by the local governments, who utilise the day as a way to help cash-strapped couples hoping to get married.  

On February 14 in 2010, 1,500 couples tied the knot at a mass ceremony in a Manila suburb.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, amid social distancing restrictions and, albeit, in reduced numbers, a number of couples got married in a mass wedding ceremony on Valentine’s Day.

Thanks to efforts of the Filipino government, February 14 is now the most common wedding anniversary in the country.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, albeit, in reduced numbers, a number of couples got married in a mass wedding ceremony on Valentine's Day

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, albeit, in reduced numbers, a number of couples got married in a mass wedding ceremony on Valentine’s Day

Celebrating friendship in Latin America 

On February 14, Valentine’s Day includes the celebration of friends, not just lovers, in parts of Latin America, including Ecuador, El Salvador and Mexico.

Known as El Día del Amor y Amistad (Day of Love and Friendship), the occasion marks and honours friendship.

In El Salvador, people draw names and exchange gifts – in a tradition known as Amigo Secreto (Secret Friend) – on February 14.

In the 1980s, Estonia and Finland began to recognise platonic love and friendship alongside romance on February 14, with friends organisation gifts exchanges and restaurant dates with one another rather than with only romantic partners.

In Estonia, Friend’s Day is known as Sõbrapäev, while in Finland, Friend’s Day is called Ystävän Päivä.

Naming a cockroach after an ex-partner in the United States  

In parts of the United States, some take pleasure in using Valentine’s Day to reflect on those who have scorned them – by naming them after a cockroach.

Sometimes a relationship doesn’t work out, or you may have experienced infidelity by a cheating spouse, which can make Valentine’s Day difficult.

However, for a small fee, several zoos have offered solutions for those who may be suffering from a broken heart by setting up cockroach-naming services.

The Bronx Zoo has Name a Roach for your Valentine, Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo offers Name a Cockroach After Your Ex and the San Antonio Zoo organises a Cry Me a Cockroach Fundraiser each year.

Each zoo offers a type of certificate to commemorate the naming – and to send along to the roach’s honoree.

In parts of the United States, some take pleasure in using Valentine's Day to reflect on those who have scorned them - by naming them after a cockroach (Photo: Getty)

In parts of the United States, some take pleasure in using Valentine’s Day to reflect on those who have scorned them – by naming them after a cockroach (Photo: Getty)

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