The heart was once believed to be the seat of the human intellect, but during the Middle Ages it acquired the familiar shape and meaning it still has today as the universal symbol of love that appears everywhere from jewelry to St. Valentine's Day cards.

By about 1400, artists had given the heart its now-familiar form as a symmetrical red emblem depicting the "heart" in paintings and other visual art as a gift exchanged between lovers.

The heart symbol has always been popular in jewelry and reached its pinnacle during the Victorian period. Today heart-shaped jewelry remains a popular token of love and friendship.