The celebration of fifty years of marriage.
The color gold has long been associated with the occasion of a 50th wedding anniversary. It is said to have stemmed from a medieval German tradition, in which a husband presented his wife with a silver wreath after 25 years of marriage and a gold wreath after 50 years. Gold was used, it is said, to symbolize the rare and precious nature of a long marriage. There is some room for doubt in this theory, as few people in medieval times probably even lived to 50 years of age, never mind being married that long, but the story persists.
A jubilee is the celebration of any anniversary, including weddings. It is commonly used in celebrations of the reign of a monarch, as the world saw a few years ago with the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
Gift giving for the golden anniversary typically involves gold, be it jewelry, gold-plated frames or gold-trimmed stemware. Some people forgo that tradition and instead select other gifts of gold or yellow, for example, yellow flowers. Most 50th anniversary celebrations involve large family gatherings, with plenty of gold decorations and, sometimes, one large gift from everyone.