Anchor your purpose: Decide what your “tree topper” is - your ‘north star’ that represents your mission or brand promise. At Belong Creative ours is ‘creating belonging’. We use an image of a campfire to represent a coming together of your ideal tribe.
Branding15 Dec 2025
What Christmas symbols teach us about brand storytelling
Every year, Christmas arrives not just with gifts and celebrations, but with symbols that instantly communicate meaning, emotion and memory. Think of the Christmas tree standing proudly in the family room, adorned with twinkling lights, shiny baubles, and topped with a star or angel. Stockings hung with care by the fireplace, candy canes tucked into branches, and wreaths on doors all tell stories at a glance. These icons carry tradition, identity, and emotion - without a single word. That’s the power of symbols.
Brands can learn a lot from Christmas symbols. Your brand has the opportunity to create and promote symbols that codify what you stand for. Elements such as logos, colours, taglines, mascots, jingles and artefacts all contribute to communicating a company’s story, purpose and culture in an instant. When done well and with authenticity, they anchor identity and evoke emotional connection with audiences and employees alike.
Christmas symbols and their brand lessons
- The Christmas Tree: A tree is the centrepiece of the celebration, much like a brand’s core values or mission. It gives structure, meaning, and focus. Your “tree” is what everyone in your organisation recognises and rallies around. It’s the gathering point that brings people together.
- The Star or Angel Tree Topper: Just as the star signals guidance or the angel symbolises hope, your brand needs a “tree topper” - a symbol that communicates your ultimate purpose and inspires your audience (like a ‘north star’).
- Lights and Decorations: Christmas lights create mood, warmth and excitement. Brand symbols - through colour, design, and tone - do the same for your identity, evoking emotions that resonate.
- Stockings and Small Tokens: Stockings represent anticipation and delight in small surprises. Similarly, brand artefacts like memorable packaging, personalised experiences, or employee recognition moments deliver consistent joy and connection.
- Candy Canes, Wreaths, and other details: Every small symbol contributes to the bigger story. Consistent, meaningful cues help reinforce identity and create lasting recognition. These could be icons, images, infographics or testimonial approaches.
How to use symbols in branding
Symbols work best when they are intentional and consistent. Here are some tips:
Be consistent: Repetition builds recognition. Just as the Christmas tree is decorated the same way each year, your logo, colours, and visual language should be consistent across every touchpoint. We use midnight blue to represent trust and process and fire orange to contrast with energy and creativity. These colours are applied to all of our marketing collateral.
Layer your symbols: Use supporting elements like design motifs, mascots, or internal artefacts to strengthen the narrative, just as ornaments and lights complement the tree. We have a suit of icons - many of which speak to the human qualities of tribe building - a warm campfire, a shared cup of coffee, a beating heart.
Evoke emotion: The best symbols connect emotionally. Think about how Christmas lights, stockings, or the star evoke nostalgia, hope, and joy - and do the same with your branding. We call ourselves ‘Belongers’ which brings a warm uniting feel to our tribe of collaborators.
Involve your people: Encourage employees to interact with brand symbols, whether through merchandise, rituals or storytelling. Symbols are powerful when shared and lived, not just displayed. For example we share branded coffee mugs (symbolising conversation and connection) and caps - which people love to wear (and often send me photos showing of their new headwear!)
How rituals shape belonging through symbols
Christmas symbols work because they are instantly recognisable, layered with meaning, and emotionally resonant. Brands can achieve the same by designing symbols that convey identity, values, and purpose. What would your organisation’s ‘tree topper’ be - the symbol that communicates your story and creates connection?
Just like the star atop the Christmas tree or the stocking by the fireplace, a strong brand symbol is a beacon, anchoring meaning and creating emotional memory that lasts.
For organisations looking to strengthen their identity and storytelling through intentional symbols or branded codes, Belong Creative can help design and embed these cues so your brand resonates and belongs in the hearts and minds of your audience.
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