Symbolism Of Carnation

The Carnation is also known as a Pink, Clove pink, Gillie, Gilly Flower, Divine flower, Jove’s Flower, and Sop’s-in-wine. The botanical name is Dianthus caryophyllus, pronounced 'di-an-thus kar-i-o-fil-us'. The Carnation is native to the far east.

Excellent for floral bouquets, carnations are showy, colorful and long-lasting flowers. Some carnations produce richly fragrant blooms. The Carnation is a longstanding favorite cut flower.

Carnation colors range from red, pink, white, to shades of yellow, peach, salmon, orange, purple, lavender, maroon, with bicolor and frosted types. Almost any color except for blue. Some white varieties have an aromatic clove scent.

Carnations are often worn on special occasions, especially Mother's Day and weddings. They were known as "Jove's Flower" in ancient Rome as a tribute to one of their beloved gods. In Korea, a young girl places three carnations in her hair to tell her fortune. If the top flower dies first, her last years of life will be difficult; if it is the middle flower, her earlier years will bring the most grief. Worst of all, if the bottom flower dies first, the poor girl will be miserable her whole life.

The carnation is also the symbol of the Portuguese Carnation Revolution.

For the most part, carnations express love, fascination, and distinction. Light red carnations represent admiration, while dark red denote deep love and affection. White carnations indicate pure love and good luck; striped symbolize a regret that a love cannot be shared. Green carnations are for St. Patrick's Day; purple carnations indicate capriciousness. Green carnations were also associated with homosexuality, following Robert S. Hichens' 1894 novel The Green Carnation, a roman a clef about Oscar Wilde. The association was repeated in Green Carnation, a lyric from Bitter Sweet by

Noël Coward:

Pretty boys, witty boys,

You may sneer

At our disintegration.

Haughty boys, naughty boys,

Dear, dear, dear!

Swooning with affectation ...

And as we are the reason

For the Nineties being gay,

We all wear a green carnation.

Pink carnations have the most symbolic and historical significance. According to Christian legend, carnations first appeared on Earth as Jesus carried the cross. The Virgin Mary shed tears at Jesus' plight, and carnations sprang up from where her tears fell. Thus the pink carnation became the symbol of a mother's undying love, and in 1907 was chosen by Ann Jarvis as the emblem of Mother's Day, now observed in the United States and Canada on the second Sunday in May. A red carnation may be worn if one's mother is alive, and a white one if she has died.