Where Do Easter Eggs Come From?

Easter eggs didn’t begin as pagan rituals, a children’s game, or as a result of the commercialization of Easter. Their story actually starts in the practices of early Christians.

1. Eggs and the Lenten Fast

During the Middle Ages, Christians observed a strict fast during Lent. They didn’t eat:

• meat
• dairy
• eggs

But hens didn’t stop laying just because it was Lent. So families collected the eggs laid during the fast and boiled them to preserve them until Easter. These stored eggs became a natural symbol of the end of fasting and the joy of Easter Sunday.

2. Marking the Eggs Became Decorating

Because people needed to track which eggs were oldest, they began marking or tinting them using natural dyes like:

• onion skins
• beet juice
• saffron
• madder root

Over time, these practical markings became decorative traditions, especially as Easter grew into a season of celebration.

3. Eggs Became a Symbol of the Resurrection

By the 4th century, Christian teachers used the egg as a vivid illustration of resurrection:

• The closed shell represented Jesus’ sealed tomb.
• The breaking open symbolized new life bursting forth when He rose.

In many Eastern Christian communities, believers dyed eggs red to represent the blood of Christ—a tradition still practiced today.

4. The First Easter Egg Hunts

The earliest recorded Easter egg hunts appear in 16th-century Germany, especially among Lutherans. Parents hid eggs for children to find as a joyful picture of the women searching for Jesus at the empty tomb.

German immigrants later brought the custom to America, where it grew into the modern Easter egg hunt and basket tradition.

In Summary

Easter eggs come from:

• Christian fasting practices
• Christian symbolism of the empty tomb
• Christian celebrations of joy at Easter

Plain. Simple.

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