Flower Language (August 27th, 2021)

This post was created before I started using this site to create blog posts. It has been reposted here.

Origin of Interest

Since about 2018, it was clear that I became interested in flower language. Alex Caster was likely the first person to talk to me about it. I don't quite remember if I found out about it on my own or not.  Maybe it started before all of that? Before summer 2018, I know that I watched The Ancient Magus Bride, which has a lot of flower language references to it. .

Feel the Colors

I then started coming up with a concept of "Feel the Colors" in the summer of 2018. It's gone through so many iterations at this point. Originally I wanted it to be an animated music video. Then the character ideas morphed a bit after I saw TWRP - Starlight Brigade. Then it got changed into a comic in December 2020 that's currently out, but with a different ideas. I'll still find a way to squeeze my original idea into that comic. It's funny how things change over the years.

Media where I've noticed Flower Language

Shakespeare's plays, The Ancient Magus Bride, Unholy Blood, Your Throne, SOLEIL.

Cultural Anthropology

For one of my classes in spring 2021, cultural anthropology, we talked a lot about signs and symbolism. In a discussion post, I wrote about flower language on March 31st, 2021.  I'll include what I wrote in this drop down. The class required that we write in The American Anthropological (AAA)  format... so I'm going to leave it as such. However, I'll be removing my name, professor's name, and class section. 

March 31st, 2021

Flower Language

        Floriography or “flower language” assigns meaning to specific flowers. You can find many different meanings from books and websites; Texas A&M’s Aggie Horticulture even started their own collection of floriography (Aggie Horticulture n.d.). Because of this, flowers are also signs and symbols. Signs as objects represent something. As Charles S. Peirce puts it, signs are a “..reference to a sort of idea” (1955:99). For example, a specific flower could represent love, another one could represent hate, and another could mean sadness. Peirce further explains that symbols are signs that would lose their meaning “..if there were no interpretant.” (Peirce 1955:104). In relation to flower language, if there were no meanings assigned to flowers, they would no longer be signs or symbols. 

        Floriography became popular in the Victorian era in England and the United States (A to Z Flowers 2019). French publishers in the 19th century started publishing “..flower dictionaries devoted to decoding the meaning of flowers” (A to Z Flowers 2019). A to Z flowers has more information on the history of floriography if you are interested (2019). Since then though, the popularity of floriography has died down. It’s likely that a few of you are learning about the existence of floriography for the first time. I found out about it a few years ago through my friend Alex Caster, who has been studying it. After that, I started to notice it in films, comics, and more. Apparently flower language is throughout several of William Shakespeare’s works according to Catherine Boeckmann (2021). When specific types of flowers are placed in a scene on purpose, it’s very subtle to people who may not know. When I notice it though, it’s like the director, author or artist waving a giant flag with how the characters feel. 

        The purpose of sending flowers as a gift was to send coded messages (Boeckmann 2021). What’s interesting about this is flowers are also a gift in addition to being a sign in floriography. As Marcel Mauss explains with reciprocity, the person receiving the gift (flowers) would be obligated to accept them and return the favor ([1925]1967:10-11). In this case, there would likely be an obligation to respond back with flowers if they understand that they were being sent a coded message through them. Catherine Boeckmann also shares more information on the presentation of flowers when gifting them during the Victorian era (2021). 

        What I found awesome is that different cultures can have their own set of meaning for flowers. For example, Japan has their own separate floriography called hanakotoba (flower language) (A to Z Flowers 2019). The color of the flower also has meaning (Boeckmann 2021). An example of this is roses; there are many different colored roses, and they each have separate meanings according to Aggie Horticulture (n.d.) and Catherine Boeckmann (2021). Because a single flower can have multiple meanings, miscommunication can also arise.

        There are also flowers whose meanings have changed over time. Catherine Boeckmann adds to this sentiment stating that “.. definitions shifted depending on the source” (2021). Yellow roses today can be associated with “..friendship, joy and caring” according to Liza Roeser (n.d.) who is a florist and entrepreneur. The context of the yellow rose is strictly platonic (Caster July 19th, 2018). However during Victorian times, the yellow rose used to symbolize “Decrease of Love, Jealousy, Try to Care” (Aggie Horticulture n.d.). Completely different meanings… The context of who you give a flower to may also have a different meaning. Using the yellow rose again as an example, when given to a romantic partner (if one person understands flower language) may be an insult -- both in today’s meaning and the Victorian era’s meaning. 

References Cited
Aggie Horticulture
               n.d. The Language of Flowers. Texas A&M University.
A to Z Flowers
               2019 Floriography – The Language of Flowers. AtoZFlowers, October 8.
Boeckmann, Catherine
               2021 Flower Meanings: The Language Of Flowers. Yankee Publishing Inc, February 1. 
Mauss, Marcel 
               [1925]1967 The Gift, Ian Cunniston, trans. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Peirce, Charles S. 
               1955 Logic as Semiotic: The Theory of Signs, in Justus Buchler, ed. Philosophical Papers 
                     of Peirce. New York: Dover Publications. pp. 98-119.
Roeser, Liza
               n.d. Rose Color Meanings: 13 Shades and What They Symbolize. FiftyFlowers.