For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it feels as if Spring is at last in the air. The sights and smells of flowers have been inspiration to humanity for the entirety of our history, regularly endowed with special prowess and meaning across cultural contexts. From romantic red roses to gentle peace lilies, a sprig of blooms is often more than just a pleasant, sweet-smelling floral decoration.
Unsurprisingly, the queer community has long been associated with, and placed special meanings upon, certain blooms. These meanings have evolved over time and social context, and in some cases have been a point of reclamation in the community (not unlike the word “queer” itself). But what particular flowers can we include in the “rainbow bouquet”, and what do these tell us about the history of the queer community?
Violets
The queer connotations of violets take us back millennia, all the way to the OG sapphic herself: Sappho of Lesbos (you can read my full blog post about this fascinating poet here). This 7th century BCE writer was famous in her own time, and today, for her intensely passionate lyrical poetry. Sappho’s name has been lent to the modern term “sapphic” because many of her poems featured other women as her “beloved”; for these reasons and others, some historians speculate that Sappho may have had female lovers.
“Sappho’s violets”, appropriately, come to us from the poet’s own words. One of her surviving poems reads:
Many crowns of violets,
roses and crocuses
…together you set before more
and many scented wreaths
made from blossoms
around your soft throat…
…with pure, sweet oil
…you anointed me,
and on a soft, gentle bed…
you quenched your desire…
…no holy site…
we left uncovered,
no grove…
Floral imagery is replete throughout Sappho’s work, though violet-colored flowers (even if not the specific species) seem to be preeminent in her effusive words. Some historians suggest that one of these poems may pay homage to violets worn by a female lover of Sappho.[1] Another source notes that, “[Sappho] mentions the color purple or violet multiple times, which is perhaps where this color first became associated with the queer community.”[2] Violent is one of the key colors on the pride flag today and represents “spirit” in the flag’s original and current designs.
Despite the wider association with queer culture, violets have maintained a special relationship with sapphic and lesbian tenderness in the centuries since Sappho’s lifetime. In the early 20th century, gifting violets among ladies was a secretive method of expressing forbidden lesbian desire among women. A group which called themselves the “Paris Lesbos” made accessories of the purple flowers to showcase their identities, despite the mounting backlash against public displays of sapphic (and indeed queer) passion throughout the West.
In 1926, for example, the popular play “The Captive” in New York City features a woman gifting violets to another woman – leading to a public outcry that the play endorsed lesbianism given the gesture’s connotations.[3] The New York District Attorney was forced to shutter the production over this seemingly coy gesture, and florists reported plummeting sales of violets as the play’s notoriety spread.
But like words, flowers have often been claimed and then reclaimed by the queer community. Such was the case with violets; in Paris, women continued to wear the flowers to showings of the now infamous play.[4] The playwright Tennessee Williams likewise paid homage to “The Captive” in naming his (ostensibly queer) character Violet Venable in “Suddenly Last Summer” to honor the floral tokens.[5] Violets remain popular among queer women today as lovely, symbolic additions to their gardens and homes, as well as gifts and adornments – suggesting that little has changed over the millennia since Sappho wrote of “crowns of violets” for her lover.
Lavender
This beautiful, fragrant herb has been admired for centuries for its aromatic and calming properties. A special favorite of anyone desperate to sleep (or just relax), lavender historically has been associated with purity, devotion and grace. But the flower itself, and particularly its synonymous color, has also been connected to the LGBTQIA+ community – most prominently, to gay men.
Like violets, lavender has been leveraged against the queer community but also reclaimed by it. It was first affiliated with queer subcultures during the late Victorian era “as a blend of gender-associated blue and pink”.[6] Prominent queer figures, notably Oscar Wilde, adopted lavender-colored attire as a means of flaunting their distinct cultural and artistic expression from the norms of the era.[7]
Later in the 1920s, “lavender” was a slang term which referenced homosexual men and may have been common parlance during this time period.[8] Historical records suggest that “Lavender Boys”, for example, was a epithet hurled at men perceived as insufficiently masculine.[9] Later during the 1950s and 60s, “lavender” became associated with “The Lavender Scare” (targeting homosexual federal employees similarly to the better known “Red Scare”) and the “Lavender Menace” controversy (which nearly tore apart the National Organization for Women until it adopted a resolution in favor of lesbian rights).[10]
Ironically, lavender tends to be at its brightest blooms during June in the Northern Hemisphere, ideally suited to a starring floral role during Pride Month. Indeed, the New York Botanical Garden celebrates the lavender plant during June every year as a centerpiece of queer history and ongoing activism.[11]
The Trillium Flower
This flowering plant, native to North America and parts of Asia, is also known as toadshade and “wood lily” among other names. Trillium species can appear in a variety of colors, but burgundy, white, red, and pink variations are common. These plants are members of the official lily family of species, and their lilting, pleated petals usually curl away from their centers like other lily varieties.
The Trillium plant seems an odd choice for a list of “queer flowers” but its significance actually lies in Latino/Latinx queer culture. In Mexico, the trillium has appeared on LGBTQIA+ flags.[12] In both Mexico and elsewhere, it has been primarily associated with bisexuality. Records suggest that the plants were among the first organisms described as “bisexual” by natural scientists in 1893.[13] A century later, this connection may have inspired the bisexual flag designer, Michael Page, to recommend the flower as a symbol for the bisexual community in the late 1990s.[14] Though the trillium is not a widely known symbol today, it was adopted into the Mexican version of the bisexual flag and featured in Mexican pride events in the early 2000s.[15]
Roses
Roses have been associated with desire, love and passion for centuries. In this sense, their connection with the LGBTQIA+ community is seemingly obvious. But it is not the connotations of romance which have made the rose a favorite among queer people; instead, the rose has been highlighted as a “queer flower” because of its astonishing diversity. Over 30,000 varieties of roses exist throughout the world, an exceptional range for any singular type of flower.[16] They are cultivated in virtually every region, come in a wide variety of sizes and a brilliant array of color variations.
The diversity of rose species has thus been seen as a metaphor for the queer community itself. Photographer Kristin Coffer’s recent series called “The Rose Project”, for example, features members of the LGBTQIA+ community each holding a rose in their portraits. Rainbow and multi-colored roses are also popular adornments and decorations at Pride parades and other queer celebrations as a representation of the Pride flag itself.[17]
However, roses have an even deeper, tragic meaning to transgender and non-binary members of the queer community. These members of the community continue to face harassment, intimidation and physical violence at horrifying rates. B. Parker, a Black Transgender artist, coined the phrase “Give us our roses while we’re still here” to acknowledge this violence and demand action on behalf of living trans people now (not just in the wake of tragedies).[18] The rose thus reveals starkly how symbols can simultaneously have multifaceted meanings to their marginalized claimants.
Green Carnations
Green carnations are a beloved and long-standing symbol in the queer community, dating back to the infamous writer and queer icon Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900). According to sources on Wilde’s life, he highly favored the green carnation and “instructed a handful of his friends to wear them on their lapels to the opening night of his comedy Lady Windermere’s Fan” in 1892.[19] Wilde was reportedly coy on the actual meaning meaning of the flowers, only noting that “[it means] nothing whatever, but that is just what nobody will guess”.[20]
Regardless of his cryptic explanations, the green carnation immediately became associated with homosexual men and queer men more broadly. It may have been used in the same manner as violets among lesbians – as a floral adornment to indicate the wearer’s interest in relationships with other men. The choice of green may have been chosen as indicative of autonomy, counter-cultural behavior and an artistic mindset.[21]
A friend of Wilde’s, Richard Hichens, penned his own novel “The Green Carnation” in 1894 wherein the green carnation lapel was a direct expression of homosexual interest; Hichens, however, withdrew the text from publication upon Wilde’s arrest and trial to avoid fanning the flames of public opinion against Wilde (and other queer men) any further.[22] But the green carnation as a symbol has persisted. In 2021, actor Elliot Page attended the Met Gala donning a black suit and a conspicuous green carnation – likely a nod to the queer icon Wilde himself – in his first red carpet appearance since announcing his transition publicly.[23]
Pansies
Like lavender, pansies took on a special associations with queer men in the early 20th century. The relationship derives from the “Pansy Performers” of the Roaring 20s at underground drag balls.[24] Though this word is often seen as a negative reference to queer men today, this was not necessarily the case a century ago. The pansy flower itself is known for its bright, multicolored and extravagant petals; it may have been a reference to the especially showy clothing preferred by drag queens in their pre-Great Depression heyday. [25]
Historians describe the “Pansy Craze” of the early 20th century as a high point for open, positive queer representation for all genders throughout the US.[26] Fabulous drag shows were at the heart of this decidedly queer moment in American history. One source notes that “[t]hough New York City may have been the epicenter of the so-called ‘Pansy Craze,’ gay, lesbian and transgender performers graced the stages of nightspots in cities all over the country.”[27] The Pansy Craze even touched Hollywood, which began to experiment with unprecedented (albeit still coded) queer representation in films such as “Michael” (1924) and “Pandora’s Box” (1929).[28]
Today, pansies have been proudly reclaimed by the queer community. “The Pansy Project”, for example, is an activist project where single pansies are planted at sites where queerphobic violence or oppression has occurred. The project, developed by award-winning artist Paul Harfleet, has seen hundreds of pansies planted throughout the world to honor queer voices (you can see a map of pansy locations here).
A Queer Garden
The history of queer flowers thus takes us on the long, ever-changing story of queer expression, love and activism which has persisted for hundreds of years. Each of these flowers, and their unique role in LGBTQIA+ lore, plays its own fascinating part in telling these complex stories of the past. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a more ideal symbol than a flower to represent the diversity, beauty and unwavering resilience of the queer community. Given how many of these flowers have been repurposed and reclaimed by successive generations of queer voices, these flowers (and perhaps many more) will remain foundational to queer culture for years to come.
[1] Charlie Davies, “Flowers of Pride: Sappho’s Violets,” The Walled Garden, June 27, 2022, https://www.thewalledgardenatmells.co.uk/post/flowers-of-pride-sappho-s-violets.
[2] Sarah Prager, “Four Flowering Plants That Have Been Decidedly Queered,” JSTOR Daily, January 29, 2020, https://daily.jstor.org/four-flowering-plants-decidedly-queered/.
[3] “5 Flowers That Have Come to Symbolise the LGBTQ Movement & Why”, Blooming Haus, https://bloominghaus.com/news/pride-month-flowers/.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Prager, ibid.
[6] Steven Sinon, “Shades of Lavender: Symbolism, Scent, Sightings, and Species”, New York Botanical Garden, June 22, 2022, https://www.nybg.org/planttalk/shades-of-lavender-symbolism-scent-sightings-and-species/.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Prager, ibid.
[9] Blooming Haus, ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Sinon, ibid.
[12] Dr. Mark Miller, “Trillium”, The Pittsburgh Botanical Garden, February 2022, https://pittsburghbotanicgarden.org/trillium/
[13] Xan Indigo, “The Symbolism Behind Flowers in LGBTQ+ History,” Grunge, February 3, 2023, https://www.grunge.com/879277/the-symbolism-behind-flowers-in-lgbtq-history/.
[14] Ibid.
[15] “Mexican Sexual Orientation Flags”, https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/mx_sex.html.
[16] Country Garden Roses, “History of the Rose”, https://www.countrygardenroses.co.uk/about-us/history-of-the-rose/.
[17] Blooming Haus, ibid.
[18] Dani Herrera, “Give us our roses while we’re still here,” Medium, March 31, 2022, https://medium.com/@ohdaeni/give-us-our-roses-while-were-still-here-1b39892c47ea.
[19] Prager, ibid.
[20] Davies, ibid.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Emma Nolan, “Elliot Page’s Met Gala Suit Featured a Green Carnation—Here’s What That Means,” Newsweek, September 14, 2021, https://www.newsweek.com/elliot-page-met-gala-green-carnation-meaning-oscar-wilde-1628786.
[24] Bloominghaus, ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Prager, ibid.
[27] Sarah Pruitt, “How Gay Culture Blossomed During the Roaring Twenties,” History, updated June 12, 2019, https://www.history.com/news/gay-culture-roaring-twenties-prohibition.
[28] Linna, “Revising Film History: Queer Coded in Early Queer Cinema in the 1900-1930s,” The Queer Queue, March 24, 2021, https://thequeerqueue.com/revising-film-history-queer-coded-in-early-queer-cinema-in-the-1900-1930s/.