Flower Symbolism
All About Flower Symbolism
Flower symbolism has been with us since ancient times, in many places, and in many cultures. Flowers have been offered as expressions of sentiment throughout history, leading up to this day. Flowers can express welcome, gratitude, appreciation, love, and other sentiments as well. Most of our more popular flowers have some meaning or symbol attached to them.
Flower symbolism has it roots in many of the major religions, the rose and lily in Christianity, the rose in Islam, and the lotus in religions of the East, to name a few. Flowers are found on the flags and in the coats of arms of many countries. The royal household of Japan is represented by the golden chrysanthemum, which is found on the imperial crest. The Scottish thistle has been the national emblem of Scotland for over 700 years. The royal households of York and Lancaster battled for England's crown. The House of York had as its emblem a white rose, while the red rose represented the House of Lancaster. Fighting between the two gave the War of the Roses its name.
The most famous of the symbolic flowers today is the French fleur-de-lis, a stylized iris or lily, there's some argument about which it is. The fleur-de-lis became the royal emblem in France in the 12th century, and remains an official symbol in France today. The flag of Hong King displays a stylized version of a native orchid-like flower. Though not a flower, the Canadian Flag has the maple leaf, and the provinces of Canada proudly display their official provincial flowers. Our 50 states each have its own designated state flower.
It was during the Victorian era where flower symbolism reached its height, as a means of expressing or conveying sentiment. Several flower types express love, including the red chrysanthemum, forget-me-not, red rose, purple lilac, and the lotus flower. The calla, honeysuckle, and hibiscus are among flowers symbolizing beauty. Purity is symbolized by the water lily, the star of Bethlehem, the rosebud, and by orange blossoms.
The cherry blossom, due to its own short booming period, symbolizes the transient nature of life to the Japanese, while its fallen blossoms serve as a reminder of warriors fallen in battle. The Chinese on the other hand, look to the cherry blossom as representing love, and as the symbol of feminine beauty. The association of flowers with feminine beauty carries over into today's cultures, where girls are named, Rose, Lily, Heather, or Holly.
One of the more powerful examples of flower symbolism is the Christmas rose, a hellebore which is associated with the birth of Jesus, supposedly having bloomed on Christmas Day. A rather strange symbolism is attached to the foxglove, which produces a life-saving drug, digitalis, and at the same time can kill if eaten in large amounts. The symbol of the foxglove can be either one of healing or one of harm.
Many coats-of- arms and family crests depict flowers, and researching these would be an interesting task to take on. Many of the cities of Europe have coats-of-arms dating back centuries, some of which depict real or stylized flowers. One would assume that behind each of these depictions there lies a story. Of the flowers mentioned above, there is no doubt many interesting historical or cultural facts that can be learned, and the list of flowers given here is by no means complete. Flower symbolism is indeed a fascinating study.