Glucksschwein, The Lucky Pig

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the pig was a popular good luck charm in France, England and Ireland, as well as Germany and Austria, where it was – and still is – known as Glücksschwein (“good luck pig”), and symbolizes good fortune and prosperity. Pigs are prolific. A well-fed sow can have a dozen piglets at a time, and in many cultures, this made pigs symbols of fertility, growth, and the kind of luck that multiplies. Their plumpness and association with feasting and abundance made them natural emblems of the good life.

The practice of collecting coins in a “piggy bank” reinforces the association between pigs and wealth. This belief traces its roots back hundreds of years to a time when having a pig meant having a good source of meat; and having meat meant that your family would not starve. (More on that below.)

Some believe it is fortuitous to start the year by feasting on roast pork, because pigs move forward when foraging, and this forward momentum can carry you into the new year with wind in your sails. But even non-carnivores can partake in this tradition. Over time, a custom developed whereby people would present one another with pigs made of marzipan (or sometimes bread) around the holidays. For this reason, pigs were frequently featured on holiday cards, along with other symbols of good luck such as the four-leaf-clover, horseshoes, gold coins and toadstools. Expressions such as ‘happy as a pig in the mire’, ‘a pig in clover’, and ‘you lucky pig’, reflect the association of pigs with happiness, financial prosperity and good luck.

But the association with pigs and prosperity is not limited to the West. In China, where the character for “home” is a pictograph of a pig beneath a roof, pigs are signs of stability, nourishment, and wealth. In the Chinese zodiac, those born in the Year of the Pig are said to enjoy comfortable lives and warm hearts—and are often surrounded by good fortune (and good food).