Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/854

* FLOWERS. 7 seem to have entertained the most passion- ate love for flowers, but to have adopted them as typical of every interesting occurrence, public or private. Wooers decorated the doorways of their beloved ones with garlands of flowers; the illness of the inmates was indicated by buckthorn and laurel hung across the lintels; while at death, parsley was sprinkled over the remains, and the head was crowned with various symboli- cal flowers. At the public games of Greece the victor was invariably rewarded with some floral emblem. The Olympian winner received a garland of wild olive (see Olive) ; the Pythian victor received a laurel crown. In the Nemoean games, a crown of parsley was awarded : in the Elean. a eiown of pine-leaves. The youths crowned themselves with flowers in the fetes, the priests in religious ceremonies, and the guests in con- vivial meetings. Garlands of flowers were sus- pended from the gates of the city in times of rejoicing. The conventional epithet of Athens was 'the city of the violet crown.' the violet be- ing chosen as the national emblem. The highest honor that a Roman soldier could receive was the civic crown made of oak-leaves. The Latins instituted a festival in honor of Flora in B.C. 736. according to tradition, during the reign of Romulus; but the public games, or Floralia, were not regularly established until B.C. 173, when it was ordained that the feast should be annually kept on the 28th day of April, lasting five days. Among the Latins, as among the Greeks, flowers were used as symbols on all public occasions. At marriages the bride wore a wreath ; the doorposts of the bridegroom's house were adorned with flowers, birth was heralded by them, and the bier of the dead was strewn with them. In the Iberian peninsula floral symbolism is principally indebted to Roman Catholic legends for the little vitality it there possesses. When Moorish power in Spain had been crushed, and Ferdinand and Isabella entered Granada, the pomegranate, the device of Granada, was em- blazoned on tie- arms of Spain, and became the national emblem. In France the language of Mowers has many votaries, and a lavish use is made of flowers in public ceremonies, and as a means of expressing various sentiments. The authentic use of tin- fleur-de-lis as the national emblem of France dales from King Louis VII. When setting out on his crusade to the Holy Land he chose this Bower for his badge. The French flag had at first, a cluster of the fleur-de- lis upon its face; bul they were replaced by Henry IV. with the single fleur-de-lis on a blue ground, which was (he design on the old French flag. This flower is seen carved upon the royal palaces and public buildings of the French, woven in their tapestries, engraved upon their plate, and stamped upon their wares. Napoleon I. upon becoming Emperor of France changed the em- blem to the bee, I'ni Hi" lily was afterwards re stored. Tin- violei was also adopted as the badge of the lionapart ists in France after the banish- ment of their leader to Elba; its signification l" 1 ing, 'to return in spring.' Flowers have not seldom been used a- the badges of partisans in other countries: thus in the long struggle I"' tween the Imperialists ami the Pope during the twelfth century, the white lily was the party badge of the Ghibellim -. while lie- Guelphs wore i •! lily. See GUET mis smi (.una i i i i:x. s FLOWERS. The cornflower, or Kaiserblume, may be con- sidered the national flown oi Germany. When Louise, the mother of Emperor William 1.. was fcrced to take refuge with her small family in the outskirts of the city of Berlin while Na poleon's army was occupying the city, the ehil dren cried from hunger and exposure. In order to pacify them the beloved queen-mother ^jaih ered the cornflowers growing by the wayside and wove them into garlands; from that time this blossom was the favorite flower of William and his people. The national emblem of Fngland, the rose, is of historic interest. Edward I. wore the red rose, as did his brother Edmund Crouchback of Lan- caster. John of I Jaunt took a red rose on his marriage with Blanche, heiress of Lancaster; and his younger brother. Edmund Langley, Duke of York, adopted the white, which he handed down to his descendants. The war known as the 'War of the Roses' afterwards waged between Henry VI. of Lancaster and Edward IV. of York, for possession of the crown of England, gave a' deeper significance to these badges ; but the marriage of Henry VII. of Lancaster with Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV., united forever the rival houses and ended the civil war. The two roses then became united under the title of the Tudor Rose, which was made the national flower. The rose has been termed the 'flower of flowers.' The ancients regarded it as the emblem of silence, of love and of joy. Cupid was fre- quently represented as offering a rose to Harpo- crales, the god of silence. On festal occasions a rose was suspended over the table, intimating to the assembled guests that the conversation was to be literally as well as metaphorically sub rosa, or 'under the rose.' In the reign of Malcolm II. of Scotland (1010), the country was invaded by the Danes, who at- tempted to storm an important fortress on the most eastern point of Scotland. Their prepara- tions being completed, and the night well ad- vanced, they approached the castle stealthily, re- moving their shoes. Upon reaching the moat they plunged in. expecting to swim across. Sud- denly the air resounded with cries of rage and distress; for the moat, instead of water, was filled with thistles. Thus the inmates were aroused to a sense of their danger and Scotland was saved. Out of gratitude for their escape the Scots adopted the thistle as their national em- blem, with the appropriate motto, Nemo me impune lacessit. Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, while preaching one day was at a loss to explain the doctrine of the Trinity. The people failed to understand, and refused to believe thai "there could he three Gods and yet one." The preacher paused, and stooping, gathered a shamrock grow ing at his fee). "Do you not -it." said he, "in this wild flower how three leaves are united on One stalk, and will you not then believe what I tell you, that there are iml 1 three persons and yet one (bid?" By this simple means his audi- ence comprehended hi- meaning, and at once em- braced the doctrine. From that time this flower became the national emblem of Ireland. II is recorded that on Saint David's Day. March 1. A.n. fitO. the Welsh, under ( 'ned walla. -■en' aboul to march against an English army. To distinguish each other from the enemy, they adopted tin' badges mosl easily obtained: each