Where Did The Tradition Of Giving Flowers Started
Down the ages, human feelings have found great expressions through the custom of gifting flowers or bouquets. Flowers and bouquets are made use of for several purposes, from congratulating someone on the occasion of his or her birthday or anniversary to expressing an apology, or even to just cheer up someone.
Archaeological evidence gathered from historical sites hints at the origin of this custom to the ancient era. History, legends and tales dating back to ancient China, Greece, Rome and Egypt display flowers to be an undeniable part of social practices. In these civilizations, it was thought that feelings could find their most suitable expression through the gifting of flowers. The ancient Greeks even believed some flowers to be related to divinity.
The practice of gifting flowers continued through the Middle Ages, with the French and the English holding the tradition strong. The present custom of giving a particular significance to each flower was imported to the West from Turkey, from where the French and the British acquired it and spread it in Europe.
Flower giving gained much significance among the Victorians who widely indulged in this custom. As overt expression of feelings was considered objectionable during the Victorian era, the genteel Victorians cultivated excellent restraint in language and they compensated this hold over the tongue by their gesture of gifting flowers to communicate feelings.
The Victorians came up with a lot of rules for giving flowers or bouquets and stuck to them with great zeal. For instance, a bouquet of red roses bought from a florist would generate a rather hostile reaction form your beloved if you gifted it to her upside down. Red roses, that otherwise depict love, can depict anger if presented upside down. These ideas were so in fashion that in the 19th century, many books on the language of flowers were written and extensively read.
Time has not been able to diminish this custom, and people in the present times still consider flowers to be the most effective means to express their emotions. Today we have reached a point where meaning is attributed to many flowers, and rules and regulations in this tradition are more important than they ever were. Gifting red roses is still considered as a passionate demonstration of love, and white lilies are known to represent purity and elegance. A yellow coloured rose is seen as a sign of friendship, while sorrow is best demonstrated by a single marigold.
Once, only specific flowers could be found only in specific regions or terrains, which is no longer the case in this progressive age of science and technology. If you live in Singapore, and walk into any Singapore flower shop, you will be overwhelmed by the enormous variety of flowers available that can express almost any human emotion.
Check out the the best Florist from Online Florist Singapore.
Related posts: