The language of Flowers

The Language of Flowers

Flowers have blossomed and bloomed in the heart of mankind, right through civilised history as we know it; they present a perennial source of splash and colour against the grey backdrop of day-to-day life. Flowers are a seasonal symbol of joyful emotion; the heart of a beautiful bouquet can convey a message of potency and drama, love and appreciation, passion and prayer.

Flowers have a story all their own, and thanks to the Victorians, they became powerful symbols, and so redolent with meaning that flowers burst forth into their own language – Queen Victoria’s subjects coined the term ‘Floriography’ – an umbrella term to describe the language of flowers.
This was very important in Victorian times – that might be difficult to understand in today’s world where we enjoy great freedom of speech and expression and the contemporary flower arrangement can say many things. However, in more conservative times, a romantic bouquet of red roses had to work very hard to convey its message.

Basically, a beautiful floral arrangement had to say what perhaps the lover could not!

Floral dictionaries were published, in answer to great demand; because flowers had great power of expression, so the giver needed to be sure the floral tribute was accurate!
The giving of flowers was laden with potency in meaning.
Even the way the arrangement was presented could pose problems for the posy! You conveyed good feelings of friendship by handing the flowers in the upright position, whereas downwards handing over was seen as antagonistic. Imagine the consternation of a romantic suitor – he goes to great trouble to find the perfect arrangement of roses so red; he hands them upside down to his beloved, and she immediately bursts into tears or faints on the spot from the shock of what she perceives, quite rightly in one sense, as a deeply hostile gesture.
And so the demand for flower dictionaries is easily understood in the context of how dangerous the business of floral tributes could be, given the potential for misunderstanding.
Another source of contention can be found in the spectrum of colour in flowers.
Take the rose again, the perpetual symbol of love as perfect as the rose itself – but what a lot of people don’t realise is that, depending on the colour, the gift of a rose could be either divisive or enriching. Most people would agree that a red rose is widely appreciated as a flower of passion, love, romance and great feeling. But it’s not so widely recognised that a yellow rose can convey jealousy and malice and a definite lack of trust! Therefore, it’s easy to see how a lack of knowledge in the shades and shadow of meaning could prove an explosive landmine in terms of misunderstandings.
But aside from these hidden dangers, Floriography, a floral language for the sole purpose of definition in meaning, made a vital difference for the shy, retiring and conservative Victorian. With the help of this new language and a dictionary to accompany it, flowers meant freedom! The story of flowers as expression gives ‘flower-power’ a whole new impetus!


Flowers have long symbolised spiritual meaning and divinity – the Bible itself has many references to the Lily as symbol of love, purity and grace. The Lily is also seen in Biblical terms as a floral icon of the Virgin Mary. The fact that religion with its devotion to visual art has embraced floral expression is no coincidence; it makes sense that floral beauty of nature should represent the more divine, spiritual and reflective aspects of life on earth.
Just consider the concept of flowers as surprise; the joy on a woman’s face when presented with a perfect bouquet; or the gasp of surprise when a woodland walker comes upon the first snowdrop of spring – such white perfection bursting forth from the dark soil of winter.
The imagery of the snowdrop like a white miracle peeping up out of the dark loamy soil can surely be seen as a symbol of divinely inspired art – or indeed can reflect the way a perfect poem of lyrical beauty can swim up from the dark hidden depths of the soul of a poet. Given these metaphors, it is no surprise that art and flowers are so historically entwined.
All over the civilised world, floral expressions of art are every bit as abundant as a carpet of bluebells in a spring woodland setting. The rich classical art world is abundant with floral depictions in painting.
But it’s not just the great art galleries that are adorned with an abundance of floral paintings. The Victorians began a huge trend where all things floral became deeply important, not just in expression as has been discussed above, but also when it came to sight and smell. Visual depictions of flowers began to appear everywhere – adorning all manner of china, commemorative cups, hair adornments, jewellery, wallpaper – flowers began to bloom miraculously on all manner of things; everything from letters to lapels! The Victorians set great store by appearance and image; and flowers were considered every bit as important as a commitment to be well and properly dressed. With regard to smell, even the simple gift of a floral scented handkerchief could evoke a very positive feeling, and convey a message of warmth and affection.
However, getting back to the great and hallowed halls of high art, and we see the most abiding examples of floral inspiration. It’s clear to see that the world’s most profound celebration of nature’s flowering bounty came from the divinely inspired paintings of the great classical artists.
Indeed, it was the humble sunflower which inspired one of the most treasured paintings in the world – ‘Sunflowers’ by Vincent Van Gogh. There was something reverential and miraculous about this artist’s celebration of the flower and what it meant to him. Despite his many afflictions, the stress and difficulty of his life, Vincent fell upon the Sunflower as a symbol of comfort and gratitude. Van Gogh found comfort and succour in the flower perhaps because he was so prone to affliction. Couple that fact with today’s much-loved tradition of sending floral tributes to friends in hospital as a gesture of comfort to a friend who is ill, and we see how the present and the past are still deeply connected when it comes to convey meaning in flowers. Van Gogh called to that deep and spiritual truth in mankind which still resonates today; that it seems no matter how deep the difficulty, the spectacle of a simple flower can give immense succour to those in moments of suffering.

And so while some flowers continue to represent the same tone in meaning from ancient times to modern, others have taken on very different connotations in contemporary times, like the Lily, which you could say has been ‘gilded’ with irony and new meaning over the years. While the bible sees the Lily as Virginal and pure, contemporary art has hijacked the image and made it symbolic of female sexuality.
The famous American artist, Georgia O’Keeffe places the flowering Lily in a central position in her exploration of female sexuality. O’Keeffe makes great use of this special flower in that her work is so beautiful that the lily is evoked almost as perfectly as it appears in nature itself. Her work stands alone as a breathtakingly beautiful depiction of flowering beauty; her painting is powerful enough that the lily is presented to us in deeply textured brilliance, coloured in creamy velvety perfection. But her work is also multi-layered in meaning, as she makes great use of this ancient flowering symbol to break new boundaries in this most modern study of human sexuality.
However, Lilies also remain very popular in times of spiritual need. They are probably the most popular flowers for funerals. Lilies offer great comfort in times of bereavement, and this is possibly linked to an older meaning, when some cultures saw a valley of lilies as indicative of the sweetness and closeness of loved ones departed. In older cultures too, dreams of lilies were seen as an omen of sad news on the way – again a tradition which links past with present; considering the powerful message of comfort conveyed by lilies in times of sadness and loss.
It’s worth pointing out though that even with the innocence associated with flowering lilies, they can cause confusion in terms of colour and meaning. White flowers generally have a benevolent message, and are all about goodness and purity, but orange lilies can actually convey hatred! Tiger lilies were used to represent good social rank, while a yellow lily can convey insincerity and a perceived lack of integrity.
Carnations continue to adorn bouquets and buttonholes as prettily as they did in times Victorian. Indeed they have been documented as a food item since the 17th century! Apparently they are indeed edible, with a strong sweet taste. Like other flowers, they are as multi-tiered in meaning as the frilled layers of their pretty petals.
Ironically, the humble pink carnation takes on a ‘blue-forget-me-not’ tone because its meant to convey the message that the giver will ‘never forget you’! Red carnations signify deep admiration and can also say that the givers heart is aching. Sadly, a yellow carnation indicates rejection and disdain and gives a very negative message.
Carnations can be solid-block colour or striped and variegated, and this matters a lot in terms of Floriography. Basically a carnation has the power to say yes or no – a striped flowers signifies a refusal – no, I cannot be with you, whereas a solid colours means a resounding yes!
Flower meaning has also flourished into the arena of birthdays. The following is an example of different flowers representing birth dates. Snowdrops stand for January; Violets for February, Daffodils for March, Sweet Pea and Daisy for April, Hawthorn for May, Honeysuckle for June, Larkspur for July, Gladioli and Poppy for August, Aster and Morning Glory for September, Calendula for October, Chrysanthemums for November and December is represented by Holly, Narcissus and Poinsettia.
In these contemporary days, we enjoy great freedom of speech. Flowers don’t have to work so hard to say what we are not free to say. Flowers enhance our words, we are free to tell our beloved what we mean, and what we don’t mean! Two dozen red roses can be seen as an accompaniment or a glorious prelude to a proposal of marriage, and does not have to stand alone as the proposal itself!
And yet anything goes in another sense!
Take Valentines Day and the ultimate romantic gesture – the big stand-alone bunch of red roses from the anonymous sender; flowers to represent the ‘secret admirer’ – a harking back to earlier times, and yet possibly the most potent flowering symbol of passionate modern romance that we know!
And so we see that modern flowers arrangements are not constrained by meaning. Nowadays, floral fashion is free to explore new boundaries.
There’s a new exciting creative energy in floral artistic expression, reflecting the new freedom of contemporary times. The huge scope of available arrangements at Flowers123 typifies all that is special about the modern flower shop.
A crystal vase full of happy Gerbera daisies of multi-coloured cheer is a very popular expression of fun and frivolity.
Likewise, the modern trend for wildflower gardens, and floral gifts to reflect this, says a lot about the stress of city living; the explosive growth in urban settlement patterns giving rise to a nostalgic look back at more pastoral times; where the lingering image of a flowering meadow full of wild honeysuckle and fragile orchids gives rise to a new trend in a more natural bouquet.

The history of flowers gives us a fascinating insight into how flowers gathered meaning, and how different the messages they came to convey over time, and also how tradition in flowers can still be connected with flowering symbolism today. But perhaps one of the most interesting observations in the study of flowers is in the arena of what flowering gifts say about the essence and endurance of human generosity of spirit. Flowers give an overall message of hope in the world. The world might be a busier more stressful place, but the gift of flowers still mean a lot to people, both in the giving and receiving, thus continuing to symbolise a civilised society, which in itself gives comfort and reassurance.

If you would like to order Flowers for Deliver to Dublin go to www.flowers123.ie