Discover the amazing and forgotten flower language through Floriography
Speaking the flower language is something we use to do unconsciously. This language has been a tradition for centuries, and like any other tradition, we don’t know its origin, and we are just used to it.
If we have romantic intentions with someone, we send red roses to show them our feelings. It is something we always knew and didn’t stop to think why we do this.
Why was the flower language created?
At the end of the 19th century in the victorian times, society was steeped in modesty and decency. By contrast, this age was characterized by an essential improvement to modernity, what started many clandestine movements to have a space for individual freedom in the middle of a massive revolution: The industrial revolution.
The prohibitions were being questioned, and some forbidden relationships started to expose, it was only that those actions couldn’t come out directly to the public. Facing a need always comes an opportunity. The flower language was the solution to send hidden messages.
The creation of this language was attributed to Persians in very ancient ages. Its formal investigation and usage intention as a discipline are recent, on the 17th century. Was King Charles II from England the one that collected all this information in his journeys. In the end, it only remained as an investigation work which never started being practical.
What is Floriography?
While Queen Victoria I from England was in power in the middle of all this revolution, a group of rebels decided to employ Charles II writings and call it Floriography. They finally started to give practical use to all that compiled information from two centuries before and was by excellency the language to express feelings, suspects, advances, and proposals.
To make the message wholly unknown and hard to decode, It wasn’t only enough to know what the type of flower meant, but we also add the color. The age of the protagonists played a role in the message’s meaning, their civil status, and their background. Even the number of flowers implied something in the missive.
Here’s an example:
Yellow rose means: love weakening, jealousy, distrust, friendship, sweetness, and affection.
As we can notice, the type and color of a flower have a significant number of meanings. For a couple of teenagers, the sense of a yellow rose is a beautiful and sincere friendship. If the couple is adult and they are just boyfriend and girlfriend, it means the breaking of the relationship because of its weakening. If they were married, means the accusation of cheating.
Even the receiving and the reaction of the flower given was a message to decode inside the interaction. Floriography is or was a really mixed media.
Many of the meanings that we know nowadays come from this victorian movement, but in this age, we don’t need to hide to express ourselves. There are fewer and fewer taboos in our society, so the flower language has been being in disuse and now is unknown.
The Flower Language
In favor of rescuing the mayor quantity of coded messages, here we bring you a summary of most of the meanings of flowers.
A
Yellow Acacia: Secret Love
Acacia: Elegance
Achillea: Fight
Yellow alheli: Faithfulness in Adversity
Enchanted alheli: Lasting Beauty
Almond tree: Indiscretion
Wild Anemone: Weariness
Anemone: Abandonment
Aster: A heart that trusts
Azalea White Poppy: Comfort
Azalea: Temperance
B
Begonia: Cordiality
Betonica: Surprise
Basil: abhorrence
Orange Blossom: Chastity
Plum Blossom: Keep Your Promise
Apple Blossom: Preference
Bay flower: Glory, Ambition
Buttercup: Ingratitude
C
Cala Belladona: Sincerity
Cala lily: Beauty
Calendula: Passion, Creativity, Cruelty, Penalty, Jealousy.
White Camellia: Innocence, Pure Love
Red Camellia: Admiration
Rose Camellia: I long for
Camelia: Camellia means: “I will love you forever”
Centaurea: Happiness
Cherry: Little lover, how ephemeral life is
White Cyclamen: Purity
Cyclamen: Distrust
Cincoenrama: Motherly Affection
Carnation – Oeillet – Carnation Campanula: Coquetry
Yellow Carnation: Disdain
White Carnation: Innocence
Carnation of Poet: Gallantry
Striated Carnation: Rejection
Red Carnation: Sighing Heart
Wild Carnation: Woman’s Love
Clematis: Soul Beauty
Rapeseed: full of energy
Convallaria: arrival of happiness
Cosmos: peace, integrity and modesty.
Yellow Chrysanthemum: Disdained Love
Blue Chrysanthemum: love is over, it didn’t take me long to get over it
White Chrysanthemum: Sincerity
Chrysanthemum: Eternity
Orange Chrysanthemum: fragile love
Red Chrysanthemum: I love you
Pink Chrysanthemum: expression of a fragile love
Violet Chrysanthemum: I can’t stand the idea of losing your love
White Clover: Think of me
Four Leaf Clover: Be Mine
Red Clover: Industry
Clover: Revenge
D
Yellow Dahlia: I am faithful to you
White Dahlia: allows to express the feelings of seduction to the loved one
Dalia malva: thanks
Orange Dahlia: perfect for a slightly extravagant declaration of love
Red Dahlia: I will always love you.
Dalia Rosa: I will try to make you always happy
Dahlia violet: my love for you is strong and grows every day
Dahlia: Instability
Dondiego: Lost hopes
Dragon’s Mouth: Presumption
Blue daisy: I am faithful to you.
White and pink daisy: I only have eyes for you
White daisy: used to seduce the loved one
Pink daisy: shy or innocent love.
Daisy: Symbolizes innocence and purity
E
Fake Ebony: Abandoned
Eglantina: Who loves you will make you cry
Escabiosa Escabiosa: Widowhood
Eupatorio: Gratitude
Elderberry: Fervor
F
Farfara: Justice has to be done
Farolillo: Thanks
Squat flower: Wit
Fleur de Lis: Flame, Burning Passion
Fritillaria: Majesty
Fuchsia: Taste
Fennel: Strength
Forget-me-not: Don’t forget me
G
Gardenia: Secret Love
Gentian: You are unfair
Scarlet Geranium: Comfort
Dark Geranium: Melancholy
Red Geranium: Determination
Rose Geranium: Preference
Climbing Geranium: Favor of the bride
Yellow Gladiolus: loving invitation.
Multicolored gladiolus: strong love with a touch of madness.
Orange Gladiolus: strong and sensual love
Red Gladiolus: expresses the erotic part of love.
Gladiolus rose: success and dating.
Gladiolus: Live genius, love date
Goldenrod: Courage
H
Heliotrope: Devotion, desire for friendship
Hibiscus: Delicate Beauty
Centella Herb: Desire for Wealth
Hypericum: Animosity
Hydrangea: Capricho
Lilac – Lilac Helenio: Tears
Hellebore: Scandal
Yellow Hyacinth: Jealousy
Blue Hyacinth: Constancy
Purple Hyacinth: Weigh, Affliction
Honeysuckle: Love Ties
I
White Iris: Hope
Blue Iris: good news
Ivy: Marriage Fidelity
J
White Jasmine: Kindness, attachment and friendship
Smelly Junquillo: I wish affection to return
Juniper: Lasting Affection
White Jasmine: Kindness, attachment and friendship
Smelly Junquillo: I wish affection to return
Juniper: Lasting Affection
L
Lavender: Constancy
Lilac: Humility
Lily of the Valley: Return of happiness
Blue Lilies: tender love. They mean good news
Lily: Greetings
Yellow Lilies: Loving you makes me happy
White Lilies: Sweet Heart, I love you and I trust you
Mauve lilies: Your eyes drive me crazy. Desire to seduce the loved one.
Orange Lilies: Burning of Love for You
Red Lilies: burning love.
Lotus: Eloquence
Lunaria: Sincerity
Lupine: Truthfulness
Lily: Innocent Heart
Lavender: Fervor
M
Magnolia: Love of nature, sympathy, nobility, perseverance and dignity
Malva Real: Ambition
Wild Mallow: Gentleness
Mint: Virtue
Mimosa: Youthful Joy
Myrtle: True Love
Mistletoe: I overcame my difficulties
N
Narcissus Orchid: Selfishness
Neguilla: Courtesy
Nasturtium: Obedience
Nettle: You are cruel
O
Olive Tree: Peace
Orchid: A beauty
Oleander: Seduction
P
Peony – Pivoine Petunia: You Relieve Me
White Peony: I’m lucky to have you
Peony malva: my friendship for you is strong
Multi Colored peony: your beauty feeds my desire for you.
Red Peony: I want you in a burning way.
Pink Peony: I love you but I’m too shy to tell you
Peonia: Veracity
Phlox: Unanimity
Platycodon: Unconditional Love
Polyanthus: Trust
Pulsátila: You can’t pretend anything
Yellow Poppy: Success
Red Poppy: Pleasure
Poppy: Dream
R
Rhododendron: Danger
Rosemary: I remember
Yellow Rose: Weakening of love, jealousy
Blue rose: patience, wait forever
White and Red Rose: Mixed feelings
White Rose: I am worthy of you
Canine rose: Joy and pain
Crimson rose: if you love me, you’ll find out
Centifolia rose: gratitude
Rose of the Alps: I want to be worthy of you
Christmas rose: Relieve my anxiety
Tea rose: our love will be fertile
Japanese rose: the beautiful sadness
Lavender Rose: crush, I’ve fallen in love with you
Black rose: my love will last forever
Red Rose: Beauty
Intense red rose: love for life.
Wild Rose: I will follow you everywhere
Rose without Thorns: Without fear
Single Rose: Innocence
Lonely Rose: Simplicity
Rosa: Love
White Rose Bud: Innocent in Love
Red Rose Bud: Purity
S
Sage: Domestic Virtue
Elder Sabina: Help
Silene gallica: Young love
Sorrel: Patience
Saffron: Knowledge of excess
Snowdrop: Hope
Safflower: tolerance
Spinach: Vitality
Yellow sunflower: you are my sun. I only have eyes for you, and like the sunflower, I will always turn to you.
Orange sunflower: fidelity in love. Admiration.
Sunflower: Worship
Smell Pea: You are unfair
St. Anthony’s Wort: Pretension
Swab: Cleaning
T
Tamarisk: Crime
Thyme: Constancy
Tragapán: Lookout, chivalry
Trinitarian: Perplexity
Yellow Tulip: Love Without Hope
White tulip: my love for you is extreme
Double tulip: we will succeed as a couple
Heather tulip: you have beautiful eyes
Orange Tulip: Fulfill my wish
Multicolored tulip: dream with a crazy and extravagant love
Black Tulip: I am suffering a lot
Red Tulip: symbolizes eternal love
Tulip Tulip: Sincere Love
U
Ulmaria: Uselessness
V
Verbena: Charm
Veronica: Fidelity
Viborera: Falsehood
Vincapervinca: Friendship
Blue Violet: Confidence and Development
Smell Violet: Modesty
Parma violet: let me love you
Double Violet: I share your love (or your friendship)
Violet: Symbolizes simplicity and modesty
Valerian Violets: Ease of Adaptation
Yellow viola: desire full of poetry.
blue viola: I trust your love.
white viola: love that begins, I respect you.
malva viola: nostalgia for lost love.
multicolor viola: think of me as I do in you.
orange viola: intense physical desire.
black viola: sadness for hopeless love.
red viola: I love you ardentl
rose viola: I am faithful to you.
Viola: I remember
W
Wooly Thistle: Desquite
Wisteria: I hold on to you
Waterlily: Purity of heart
Weeping Willow: Affliction
Creeping Willow: Unrequited Love
Z
Zinnia (mix): Memory of absent friends
Yellow Zinnia: I remember
White Zinnia: Goodness
Red Zinnia: Constancy
Variety of flower language according to other cultures
The chart registered before is a direct compilation of the usage of flower language according to victorian England. Some specific rules or styles must be respected at the moment we want to send flowers in every region of the world.
In Russia, it is in awful taste sending flowers in a pair number. In fact, it is a bad omen, because only for funerals it is allowed to send pair bouquets.
Talking about superstition ambit, Russia isn’t the only country with this characteristic. In Japan, it is forbidden to gift four flowers, this number is considered in Japan, China, and Korea a symbol of bad luck.
In China, people gift white carnations only when a marriage proposal is about to happen. If you’re dating someone in this country, it isn’t recommendable to take it to the first date, unless your intentions are sending that message.
This is a fascinating subject to retake it today. Now you can send and gift flowers with a story, message, and a secret reason to share with your favorite person. You should use Flower language.
