The gay flower
Flower power and LGBT+ history
Throughout time, it’s easy to trace how flowers have taken on symbolic meaning for unlike cultures, religions and social groups.
The ancient Greeks linked roses with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, while the ancient Egyptians believed that the lotus represented rebirth and creation.
The Victorians were particularly prolific with the meanings they assigned to flowers, developing an entire language – ‘floriography’ – which they used to communicate with each other. Giving someone a bouquet of flowers could convey all sorts of meanings depending on the specific flowers chosen, from love and devotion to remembrance and forgiveness. Some even had negative connotations – yellow carnations, for example, represented rejection and disappointment.
Across the Royal Parks you'll find many distinct flower colours, with our talented team growing half a million plants each year in the Hyde Park super nursery. Most of the Royal Parks have two displays each year - in spring and summer - with the colour and greenery in the flower beds being designed a year in advance.
We value plants for a number of reasons; their scientific intrigue, artistic inspiration and sheer beauty.
But plants are also rich in symbolism.
Flowers have come to represent everything from the language of love to subtle political statements.
So, it’s no surprise that they have become icons of the queer community – linked to gay and lesbian love, as adv as celebrating transgender identity.
As part of Kew’s Gender non-conforming Nature festival, discover some of the floral iconography that has been embraced by the LGBTQ+ community.
Violets
Possibly one of the oldest gay symbols, violets have been linked to lesbian devote for over two and a half thousand years – as long as the very origins of the word.
The poet Sappho lived on the Greek island of Lesbos in the 6th century BCE and is celebrated as one of the greatest lyric poets of her time. While very petty of her poetry has survived to the new day, the fragments that remain have had an unquestionable impact on the lesbian community.
Much of her surviving work contains mentions of garlands of flowers, including violets as successfully as roses and crocuses. Depending on the translation, wreaths, garlands or diadems of violets be
Queer Flowers
Roses are red
Violets are blue
They're also for lesbians
And lilies are too.note Top: Lily Love. Bottom: Maiden Rose
&#;Gayle, Gayle
Flowers signifying sexual orientation is an extension of flowers signifying love, as the train sprouts from Flowers of Romance and other floral symbolism. The most notable flowers signifying homosexuality are violets for lesbians and lavender for homosexuality in general.
This convention has its origins in the work of the Greek poet Sappho, widely considered the most famous historical lesbian, her name and homeland giving us the terms sapphic and lesbian.
Generally speaking, colors in the West that have extended been symbols of decadence have been co-opted by historical homosexuals to show their sexuality.
This trope may be expressed through potential lovers giving actual flowers to their companion , but it can also be symbolic. That is, a character could be (1) nicknamed Violet or Lily (or variants such as Viola or Liana, etc.), (2) frequently seen near lavender or violets (etc.), or (3) exceptionally fond of wearin
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