130 



THE SYMBOLISM OF FLOWERS. 



Perhaps the \'ery earliest flower which we find 

 employed as the symbol of a nation or country was 

 the Egyptian lotus [Xdunihium speciosiini. Fig. 3). 



Fig. I. The Oli\e. 



This magnificent aquatic flower was dedicated to 

 Isis, the great female deity of the ancient Egyptian 

 Pantheon ; and it is evident that the Pharaohs and 

 their people of the Nile valley held the lotus to be a 

 national emblem, for their sculptors and decorators 

 were never weary of producmg representations of the 

 grand and massive blossoms, either alone or in com- 

 bination with the papyrus plant, which is also shown 

 in the accompanying figure. 



Passing the dark ages, we come to the age of 

 chivalry, where we find the floral language surviving 

 in the cognizances or badges of great leaders, high 

 families, and the memory of heroes and beautiful 

 women. Of these many are alluded to in old books 

 on heraldry. We have only space to allude to a 

 few national or family badges. 



Geoffrey of Anjou, when on a crusade, placed a 

 sprig of the broom {Planta genista. Fig. 2) in his 

 helmet as a token of his lowliness and Christian 

 humility. His descendants adopted the badge, and 

 thus came the family name of the Plantagenets, or 

 wearers of the broom plant. 



The appropriation of different flowers as the 

 symbol of kingdoms or countries or the badges of a 

 party, a clan or a regiment, appears to have origina- 

 ted very early during the middle ages, and probably 

 sprung out of the fantasies of chivalric heraldry. 

 France appears to have been one of the first of 

 European nations to adopt a national flower as a 

 badge, in her flag bearing the "fleur-de-lis" (Fig. 2) 

 which, however, is evidently not a lily at all, but a 

 conventional representation of an iris. It is clear, 

 moreover, that the use of this flower as the emblem 



of France cannot be of \-ery great antiquity, for the 

 most ancient war banner of the French was the 

 " Oriflamme," which was a red flag with rays or 

 points, doubtless intended to represent the sun, and 

 having its origin probably in a similar idea with the 

 " Sunbarol '' flags of ancient Erin. But doubtless 

 the fleur-de-lis figured later on in many a well- 

 fought field, and made a war-cry of chivalry — 



" Now by the lips of those you love, fair gentlemen of France, 

 Charge for the golden lilies now — upon them with the lance !" 



The four emblems of the United Kingdom, i. e. 

 the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, the 

 shamrock for Ireland and the leek for Wales (Fig. 

 8, page 134), all appear to be entitled to claim a re- 

 spectable antiquity, although it is not possible, per- 

 haps, to assign an exact date to the assumption of 

 either of them. The splendor and fragrance of the 

 blossom of the rose might well commend that flower 

 to the good graces of that bold and haughty nation 

 which has taken the lion as its emblem in animal 

 nature : but the special monarch who first intro- 

 duced this emblem we do not know. In later times 

 a rose-bloom of rather peculiar character was the 

 favorite badge of the royal house of Tudor. There 

 was very good reason for this, apart altogether from 

 the rose's claim to be the emblem of England hun- 

 dreds of years before Henry Tudor, Earl of Rich- 

 mond, landed at Milford Haven, and wrested the 

 crown of this kingdom from Richard III. 



Fig. 2. Fleur-de-lis .\nd Plantagenet. 



It was many years before the battle of iBosworth 

 Field that Richard Plantagenet, the representative 

 of the house of York, and the Earl of Somerset, as 

 representative of Lancaster, had their historic quar- 



