Final answer:
Valentine's Day origins trace back to ancient Roman festivals, and celebrations have evolved over time. The modern holiday includes traditions like exchanging tokens of love. Some nations, like Iran, have banned these celebrations to preserve cultural and religious integrity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The origins of how Valentine's Day was first celebrated are surrounded by various legends and historical accounts. The early celebrations of Valentine's Day are believed to have been connected to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, which included feasting and ceremonies. However, the specific traditions such as singing and dancing, exchanging flowers and chocolate, or feasting and praying, as we associate with the modern Valentine's Day, likely emerged much later as the holiday evolved.
Once Christianity became more influential in Rome, the Church worked to Christianize popular pagan celebrations. They began to establish saints' days that coincided with existing non-Christian festivals to ease the transition for new converts. This practice of intertwining Christian and non-Christian traditions was seen in various holidays, including Christmas and Easter, and Valentine's Day also became intertwined with a celebration of romantic love, incorporating customs like exchanging tokens of affection.
In the context of the influence of Western culture, some nations have reacted to maintain their cultural and religious traditions. For example, in Iran, all activities and symbols related to Valentine's Day were banned in 2011, as a way to resist the adoption of a holiday seen as rooted in Christian martyrdom, which was inconsistent with Islamic beliefs.