1991 Royal Copenhagen Christmas plate, designed by Svend Vestergaard, has the title The Festival of Santa Lucia. Royal Copenhagen's Christmas plate from 1991 depicts the celebration of Saint Lucia, a celebration literally highlighted by candles, is an old tradition in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia. Together with her hand-maidens, the young Lucia bride, clad in white, ushers Christmas in with a song that is moving in its simplicity and beauty. The origin of the Lucia tradition can be traced back to 300 A.D. In the Italian city of Syrakus on Sicily there lived a young woman of high birth. She was betrothed, but instead of a happy wedding she suffered the gruesome death of a martyr because of her strong religious beliefs. It is especially is the southern regions, that she is honoured as a saint. The Lucia tradition was first seen in Denmark in 1944, and has become an annual tradition.