and started to appear in upper-class families in the 18th century on Christmas Eve with a candle-wreath in her hair, handing out candy and cakes to the children. Another theory claims that the Lucy celebration evolved from old Swedish traditions of “star boys” and white-dressed angels singing Christmas carols at different events during Advent and Christmas. In either case, the current tradition of having a white-dressed woman with candles in her hair appearing on the morning of the Lucy Day started in the area around Vänern in the late 18th century and spread slowly to other parts of the country during the 19th century. A special baked bun, Lussekatt (St. Lucy Bun), made with saffron and in use as early as November, is a very popular Christmas tradition. Since 2008 there has been some controversy over males as Lucy, with one male who was elected Lucy at a high school being blocked from performing, and another performing together with a female. In another case a six-year-old boy was not allowed to appear with a Lucy crown because the school said it couldn't guarantee his safety. Conflicts over children of color portraying Saint Lucy have also become prevalent, such as when a company posted an advertisement in 2016 where a dark-skinned Swedish child portrayed Saint Lucy. Finland The Finnish celebrations have been historically tied to Swedish culture and the Swedish-speaking Finns. They observe "Luciadagen" a week before the Winter Solstice. St Lucy is celebrated as a "beacon of brightness" in the darkest time of year. The first records of St. Lucy celebrations in Finland are from 1898, and the first large celebrations came in 1930, a couple of years after the popularization of the celebrations in Sweden. The St. Lucy of Finland has been elected since 1949 and she is crowned in the Helsinki Cathedral. Local St. Lucies are elected in almost every place where there is a Swedish populace in Finland. The Finnish-speaking population has also lately begun to embrace the celebrations. Denmark In Denmark, the Day of Lucy (Luciadag) was first celebrated on 13 December 1944. The tradition was directly imported from Sweden by initiative of Franz Wend, secretary of Föreningen Norden, as an attempt "to bring light in a time of darkness". Implicitly it was meant as a passive protest against German occupation during the Second World War but it has been a tradition ever since. Although the