Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love in all of its many forms whether that’s the love of friends, family, or even a significant other.

Around the world, from America to Denmark, the holiday can be centered around grand gestures of love, or small, sweet ones. However… is there a cultural difference when celebrating such a now commercialized day?

In France, Valentine’s Day—la Saint Valentin in French— is celebrated by those who are in love, where couples swap gifts with one another, friends and family would do the same with their significant others.  Friends, for example, wouldn’t give their friends a gift on this day since it could potentially lead to an impression that they’d want to be more than friends!

This vastly differs from America’s view of Valentine’s Day, where everyone is given a card to show ones appreciation for them, even if they’re friends or family.

Whereas another country, such as Denmark, Valentine’s Day is celebrated differently.

In Denmark, Valentine’s Day is actually a somewhat new holiday, since it was established in the 1990s. Unlike the well-known red rose, a known gift in other countries for this day, those in Denmark exchange white flowers known as snowdrops. Within this culture, men also give the woman/man of their affection a funny card, to which the man/woman has to guess the person who gifted them the card. If guessed correctly, they receive an Easter egg for Easter.

Now, whether it’s receiving a card only from your significant other, or receiving a white flower, today’s a day for being loved and knowing that you are loved, in any shape and form it comes in.