Why do Italians quietly change into red underwear on New Year's Day?

We Chinese have a saying that we wear red underwear, red underwear and even red socks in the year of our birth, i.e., every twelve years, to pray for peace and to ward off evil spirits. For the Chinese, the year of our birth is a hurdle in a person's life, and in the old saying, it's the year of our destiny to commit taiyue (命犯太岁).

All Chinese people esteem wearing red intimate apparel to drive away evil spirits, because red represents the color of the sun in primitive societies, and is a symbol of joy and vitality in modern societies.

Not coincidentally, in another country far away, people there also wear red underwear to achieve much the same purpose as we Chinese, this country is Italy.

Almost all Italians wear red underwear, not just red panties, on the first day of the new year, New Year's Day. Of course, if you are very mindful of red underwear, you can also choose to replace it with other red clothing, in short, wear red elements on your body.

The Italians believe that New Year's Day represents the end of the old and the beginning of the new year, and that the color red symbolizes the power to drive away demons and bad luck, and then they will be able to do everything right and be safe and happy in the new year.

Thus we can see that the red underwear and other clothing in different cultures play the same role, in fact, this is a kind of feudal superstition since the ancient times, but because it also represents the people for the future of life's good vision, so it has been passed down from generation to generation.

So, if you go to Italy and hear your Italian friends wearing red underwear, don't make fun of them. Instead, you can tell them that in China, we also have the custom of wearing red underwear, so your relationship will be intimate soon, and you'll get more goodwill from them.