Since ancient time,flowers have been a source of joy and beauty.Flowers color the world with their beautiful hues.Their fragrances can be used to make heavenly perfumes.Flowers have been such a momentous part of human history and have turned to be a part of most important occasions in our daily life.They are conspicuously present on birthdays,graduation,funerals,weddings,etc.forming an integral part of our lives.Some flowers even have religious significance.
The language of flowers,sometimes called floriography,was a Victorian-era means of communication in which various flowers and floral arrangements were used to convey coded messages,allowing people to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken.
It is an old tradition to assign hidden meanings to flowers and using these as symbols to express feelings and sending messages.Almost every ancient culture developed a language of flowers.Perhaps the most enthusiastic development and significance of language of flowers appeared during the Victorian era.Messages were popularly conveyed through the language of flowers,secret lovers sent seemingly innocent flower bouquets to each other to convey their feelings of love.Especially during the Elizabethan period,strict social norms of “moral conduct” bred hypocrisy and ways to circumvent the austere social codes.During the period romantic liaisons were conducted with assistance of the language of flowers,which developed into a language to convey romantic gestures and true love.
In modern times,the subtle differences of the language of flowers are all but forgotten.However,a red rose still conveys passionate,romantic love,yellow roses still stand for friendship or devotion and white roses still suggest virtue and chastity.Even if these are not the exact translations of the Victorian sentiments,flowers still speak in their language.Flowers also have symbolic and religious meanings.There are references given to flowers in Biblical literature,and during the Middle Ages,floral herbs were even believed by some to have magical powers.Therefore,flowers were given a place of honor in the royal gardens.