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Personification of time passing
the personification of time

Father Time is a personification of time. In recent centuries he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device. As an image, "Father Time's origins are curious." The ancient Greeks themselves began to associate chronos, their word for time, with the god Cronos, who had the attribute of a harvester's sickle. The Romans equated Cronos with Saturn, who also had a sickle, and was treated as an old man, often with a crutch. The wings and hourglass were early Renaissance additions and he eventually became a companion of the Grim Reaper, personification of Death, often taking his scythe. He may have as an attribute a snake with its tail in its mouth, an ancient Egyptian symbol of eternity.

Around New Year's Eve, the media (in particular editorial cartoons) use the convenient trope of Father Time as the personification of the previous year (or "the Old Year") who typically "hands over" the duties of time to the equally allegorical Baby New Year (or "the New Year") or who otherwise characterizes the preceding year. In these depictions, Father Time is usually depicted wearing a sash with the old year's date on it. Time (in his allegorical form) is often depicted revealing or unveiling the allegorical Truth, sometimes at the expense of a personification of Falsehood, Fraud, or Envy. This theme is related to the idea of veritas filia temporis (Time is the father of Truth).

Father Time is an established symbol in numerous cultures and appears in a variety of art and media. In some cases, they appear specifically as Father Time while in other cases they may have another name (such as Saturn), but the characters demonstrate the attributes which Father Time has acquired over the centuries.

Father Time was the logo for the Elgin Watch Company. Notable in the logo was that Father Time had switched out his traditional hourglass for a watch.

Father Time made numerous appearances in the classic comic Little Nemo in Slumberland, both as a general representation of time and as a symbol of the new year. A Norman Rockwell painting of Father Time appeared on 31 December 1910 cover of The Saturday Evening Post. Father Time is a recurring character in Tatsuya Ishida's webcomic Sinfest, often appearing as an infant immediately on or after the Western New Year, and as an old man fated to die during the end of the year. Father Time appears in Neil Gaiman's graphic novel The Sandman: Overture, depicted as father to the Endlessseven embodiments of natural forcesthrough marriage to Mother Night.

"Father Time" is a song, composed by Ralph Towner, from Ralph Towner, Wolfgang Muthspiel and Slava Grigoryan's album "Travel Guide". "Father Time" is a song from power metal band Stratovarius's album Episode. "Father Time" is a song from power metal band Majestica's album Above the Sky. "Father Time" is a song from hard rock band Shark Island's album Law of the Order. "Father Time" is the name of a song on Richie Sambora's album Stranger in This Town. "Father Time" is the name of a song on Blind Melon's album For My Friends. "Father Time" is the name of a song on Animal Collective's album Centipede Hz. "Father Time" is the name of a song on Kendrick Lamar's album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. "FatherTime" is the name of a song on Bones (rapper) album OFFLINE. "Old Father Time" is the name of a song on Peter Yarrow's album That's Enough for Me. "Father Time" is the nickname for bassist Leland Sklar. "Father Time" is referenced in Lil' Wayne's song 6 Foot 7 Foot. "Father Time" is referenced in the Death Cab for Cutie song What Sarah Said. "Father Time" is referenced in the Metallica song Minus Human. "Father Time" and "Chronos" are referenced in the Megadeth two part song Time: The Beginning and Time: The End. "Father Time" is referenced in the Mark Chesnutt and Don Everly song Brother Jukebox. "Father Time" is referenced in the Parkway Drive song Home Is for the Heartless.