The Language of Flowers is often thought to be something that originated from the Victorian era. However, whilst it was definitely a popular form of communication at this time, it is actually believed to have originated from Turkey in the 17th /18th Century. Known as a 'Persian Selam', lovers exchanged floral bouquets with each other, conveying their deepest, most innermost feelings via these floral displays. These secret exchanges were a deliberate form of expressing their love for one another, the giving and receiving of flowers, secretly revealing underlying meanings in a way that only the sender or receiver would understand. Subtle, and often secret messages were passed back and forth in this way, lovers exchanging floral messages with each other, declaring the true nature of their feelings via the different blooms and colours. And I would imagine that this played an enormous part in the strong link we have today in regard to flowers & romance.Initially starting out in Turkey, and later introduced into Europe, the Turkish secret language of flowers became a very popular way to communicate your feelings of attraction, affection or love. In particular, the Victorians became very enarmoured by this new and adventurous form of communication - a secretly coded boquet - and possibly seen it as a welcome escape from the more formal mode of communication that was expected of society during the reign of Queen Victoria. Such was their interest in this subject, and such was it's popularity at this time, that it was often mistakenly believed that they were indeed the creators of such a language. I would imagine the true reason for this misconception was in great part due to their intense interest in it.
Different flowers became associated with different feelings and emotions, and this eventually developed into a specific language, later termed as Florigraphy, literally meaning 'the language of flowers.' Actually considered a science in itself, Florigrapy was embraced fully by the Victorian people, who found this a new and very romantic method of communication, and a gentleman of the time had to be very careful indeed in regard to what flowers he gave a lady, for fear of sending the wrong message entirely.
'Le Language des Fleurs', it is believed was the first book published upon the subject in 1818, and this was written by a French woman by the name of 'Mme Charlotte de la Tour. However, it was a Victorian woman by the name of Miss Corruthers of Inverness, so taken by the whole subject matter, who felt compelled to write her own book, and it was her book on floral communication , published in 1879, that actually became the standard in it's field.
It was around and about this time, that the people of England found themselves reigned by a Queen in deep mourning after the loss of her husband, Prince Albert, (one whom, in our modern day would most likely be considered to be in a deep state of depression), and in a society less and less capable of expressing themselves freely and openly. Left with little option with regard to self expression, particularly in regard to emotional expression, they turned to flowers to satisfy their need to connect with one another
There were also incredibly strict restraints in regard to courtship at this time, so lovers became very conversant in the language of flowers and, as such, chose their flowers very carefully indeed. And it was not only in the shape of posies that they expressed themselves.
Florigraphy gave them a means of expressing themselves, despite society’s restrictions, and whilst the variety and supply of flowers was much more limited back then, the Victorians became very adept at how they used flowers in regard to communication. Indeed, the need to express themselves in this way became so strong that the language of flowers became a very complex thing, and, as such, over time, many books & dictionaries were produced and dedicated purely to provide detailed explanations of the meaning behind posies, nosegays or a single stem.
The giving of flowers, and their associated meanings became highly fashionable during this time, hence flowers became the common mode of communication. So it was primarily the Victorians who took advantage of this new way to communicate their feelings for each other. As a result the whole concept became very complicated, and one had to be very knowledgeable in order to ensure the proper message was put forward when giving such a gift. It is a very different story today, and in our modern world, the giving of flowers is seen in a very different light. The giving or receipt of a bouquet is always considered a positive message, as flowers are more often than not used to celebrate, as opposed to commiserate.
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