First celebrated on December 26, 1966, the festival of Kwanzaa (KWAN-za) was created in the United States by scholar and cultural activist Dr. Maulana Karenga. Patterned after harvest festivals in Africa, Kwanzaa derives its name from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits." Symbols of Kwanzaa are set upon a low table laden with tropical fruits and vegetables. A seven-branched candelabrum called a kinara, reflecting the Nguzo Saba, or the seven principles of Kwanzaa, is used for lighting one candle for each day of the holiday. Kwanzaa decorations traditionally use a color scheme of red, black, and green: black to represent the faces of Black people and their collective beauty, red to represent the struggle and the blood of ancestors, and green to signify youth and renewed life.