The short answer is yes, Valentine’s Day is capitalized because it is a special date referring to a holiday. It also always has an apostrophe since it refers to the holiday celebrating St. Valentine.
You should capitalize all proper nouns in the English language. This includes all holidays and special events.
When Can You Lowercase Valentine’s Day?
Whenever you refer to the day itself, you must capitalize it, but if you use the word as an adjective to describe gifts, a greeting, or a person, you don’t need to capitalize it. Examples include:
- I bought her a valentine present; I hope she’ll like it.
- I got a valentine card from him today.
- Be my valentine.
A History of Valentine’s Day
There are many legends around the origin of Valentine’s Day, but one of the leading legends goes as such:
The St. Valentine’s Day that is known today had its origins in Christian and Roman tradition. It is said that Valentine was a priest serving during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius 2 decided single men made efficient soldiers than those who were married with families, Emperor Claudius 2 outlawed marriage.
As a result of this, Valentine continued to do marriage ceremonies in secrecy for lovers. When Valentine was discovered doing these actions, Claudius ordered him to be executed. However, others have said that the Saint Valentine of Terni was the true inspiration behind the holiday. Like Valentines, he was executed by Claudius 2 as well. It is said that Valentine’s Day was created to celebrate Valentine’s death in A.D. 270. Others have said that Valentine’s Day is for Lupercalia fertility festival.
