Every February 14th, florists in Saudi Arabia are actually putting away their red roses and store owners are taking down anything that’s red, heart –shaped, or vaguely Valentine’s Day-ish. These things are done at the order of the “Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” otherwise known as the Religious Police.
The penalty for daring to defy these orders is the store being shut down. People are also not supposed to wear anything red on Valentine’s Day. If they do, they will be denied entry into school, work, stores, or wherever they have to go. The reasoning behind all this is that it discourages people from celebrating this holiday, which in the country is associated with out-of-wedlock contact between men and women.