Flower Meanings & Symbolism
The cultural and traditional meanings attached to flowers, including the Victorian language of flowers.
Carnation
January's ruffled, long-lasting birth flower — a clove-scented dianthus carrying centuries of meaning around love and admiration.
FlowerChrysanthemum
November's birth flower — an autumn mainstay whose meaning swings sharply between cultures, from joy to mourning.
FlowerDaffodil
March's bright birth flower — a trumpet-shaped narcissus that heralds spring and symbolises renewal and new beginnings.
FlowerDaisy
April's cheerful birth flower — a simple ray-and-disc bloom traditionally tied to innocence, purity, and new love.
FlowerLavender
A fragrant Mediterranean shrub prized for its calming scent and long tied to serenity, devotion, and purity.
FlowerLily of the Valley
May's fragrant birth flower — nodding white bells with a famous scent, traditionally a symbol of returning happiness.
FlowerMarigold
October's warm birth flower — an easy, pungent bloom central to Day of the Dead and long tied to remembrance.
FlowerRose
June's birth flower and the most storied bloom in the world — its meaning shaped as much by colour and number as by the flower itself.
FlowerSunflower
A tall, sun-tracking summer bloom traditionally tied to adoration, loyalty, and warmth — and a genuine feat of botany.
ConceptThe Birth-Flower Tradition
The custom of assigning a flower to each month of the year — a cultural convention, more folklore than fixed rule.
ConceptThe Language of Flowers (Floriography)
The Victorian-era system of coding messages into flowers — the historical source of most flower 'meanings' today.
FlowerViolet
February's modest birth flower — a low, sweetly scented viola long tied to faithfulness and quiet devotion.