Kwiaty – drobny gest czy ukryty przekaz? The AimHigh Magazine#75: Flowers: a simple gesture or a deeper meaning?

Flowers. It seems to be a perfect gift for women, as most of them simply love them and enjoy receiving them. Every year, we see beautiful bouquets on Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, International Women’s Day, or when men buy a few roses for their date, girlfriend, or wife. The gesture itself is very beautiful, and it also shows love, affection, and our remembrance of the gift recipient.

 Although there’s one thing many people didn’t think about while buying flowers as a gift. Meaning. Did you know that most of the known flowers have a really deep meaning? And not only that, because colour, species, number, arrangement, as well as culture and region have a huge impact!

 It’s not a modern invention, though. The Floriography, known as the “language of flowers”, is the practice of using flowers to send coded messages and comes from the Middle East, where it was popular in Turkish and Persian cultures. This trend gained great popularity during the Victorian era, especially in the upper classes of society, and was introduced in Western Europe by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of the British ambassador in Constantinople. Floriography helped to express feelings when it was inappropriate to say them out loud.

 The meaning of flowers and their colours has changed over time, except for a few fundamental symbols (like red that constantly means love), and turned from a strict, conspiracy code to a more universal and relaxed approach, based on associations. For example, white still means purity and innocence, but today white flowers are also used at funerals, where in the past that was forbidden. Pink still means subtlety and grace, yellow still could be used to express jealousy, infidelity or betrayal, but on the other hand, today it is rather used to express friendship and happiness.

 And what about specific species? Roses, especially the red ones, mean passion and desire and of course love. Lilies mainly mean beauty and delicacy; the white ones mean purity and grace, while the pink ones express romantic love. Tulips – mainly elegance, the pink ones mean care, violet are a sign of royal power and perfection. Carnations – generally mean promise and infatuation, though the red ones mean passionate love. Freesias mean respect, hyacinths suffering (however, the white ones mean selfless sympathy), hydrangea broken heart, sunflowers admiration, pansies expectancy. That sounds really simple, but is a bit more complicated, since the meaning could change a bit because of the color, and to be honest, there are really as many meanings as there are flowers’ species and their colors.

 Back to the gifts’ topic. As you could read, sometimes it really matters what kind of flowers you are giving to someone. Of course, the gesture itself means a lot, though one day, you could meet a girl who is a real freak about flowers and their meaning. In that case, you don’t want to give her a hydrangea on a first date, do you?