This Valentine’s Day, give a bouquet of flowers that’s meaningful and reflects your emotions. Most people don’t know that every flower has a specific meaning, and giving that flower to someone relays that meaning in a personal manner.
While giving a singular flower might convey a strong message, a bouquet conveys an even stronger multi-leveled present. During the Victorian era, giving flowers as meaningful gifts was very common because people usually were not allowed to say certain things outright. Societal expectations in the Victorian era were very mannerly and centered around proper etiquette which limited certain conversations, flirtations, or questions between others. The giving of flowers and the ‘language’ of flowers quickly became one of the most popular methods of communications to maneuver around societal taboos.
While giving flowers based on their meaning is not particularly common today, it’s still a fun and purposeful thing to do this Valentine’s Day. The most popular meaning of a flower that has lasted for generations, and is most popular on Valentine’s day, is the red rose symbolizing passionate love.
Here’s a short list of ten different flowers and their respective message:
1. Peonies
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Peonies represent bashfulness and compassion. It generally is used to symbolize a happy life, happy marriage, good health, and prosperity.
2. Orchids
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Orchids symbolize exotic beauty, refinement, and unique charm. In addition, the orchid also symbolizes proud and glorious femininity.
3. Calla Lily
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Calla lilies generally signify beauty and general magnificence. White calla lilies, in particular, combine these two elements with purity. Because of these combinations of meanings, calla lilies are one of the more popular flowers weddings.
4. Sunflowers
Sunflowers signify pure thoughts, adoration, and dedication. More specifically, sunflowers are a symbol of dedicated love.
5. Tulips
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Tulips indicates perfect passionate love. They’re often used to declare one’s love to another!
6. Lilacs
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Lilacs are used to represent youthful innocence and confidence. White lilacs, in particular, signify humility and innocence, and purple lilacs symbolize a first love.
7. Lillies
In general, lilies symbolize purity and perfect beauty. White lilies mean purity or modesty, orange lilies mean passion, yellow lilies mean happiness, and lily of the valley symbolizes purity of the heart.
8. Irises
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Irises represent eloquence and poise. Purple irises, the most common color, means wisdom and high compliments or thanks. Blue irises are less common but they represent faith and hope.
9. Daisies
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Daisies symbolize purity and innocence. Because daisies represent purity, they also convey the message of strong and loyal love.
10. Carnations
Carnations, though arguably made unpopular by the classic show Sex and the City, are a symbol of pride and beauty. Pink carnations would be given to convey love towards a woman or motherly figure, a purple carnation would be given to convey impulsiveness or unpredictability, and yellow would be given to describe rejection or disappointment. Perhaps it is these unfavorable messages that caused Charlotte to dislike carnations.
All flowers have a general meaning and purpose hidden behind their beauty, but almost all meanings expand based on the color of the flower. Some of the more generalized meanings in regards to color include white, meaning purity, read meaning love, and yellow representing glee.
These special secret interpretations of flowers can be especially useful when trying to construct a bouquet for a loved one, especially around Valentine’s Day. Perhaps giving flowers based on their definitions will become popular again, but for now, it is simply a fun way to communicate with people you care for.