Today, members of the Irish diaspora all over the world wear green, a symbol of this verdant country. We know that the Irish get their green from the shamrock… but fewer people know why the shamrock is the emblem of Ireland. The story goes like this:
In the 5th century AD, a missionary, the future Saint Patrick, went to Ireland. His aim? To convert these pagan Irish to Catholicism. According to popular legend, he bent down, picked up a clover leaf, and explained that the three leaflets represented the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. But that, although there were three of them, they formed a whole, just like the Holy Trinity. Amazed by this explanation, the Irish are said to have converted… and they still wear a shamrock in their buttonholes on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.
The Rest of the British Isles
For the Scots, the very prickly thistle is their floral emblem. But why such an unwelcoming plant? A popular legend explains it. It is said that Vikings attempted to attack a Scottish encampment in the middle of the night, hoping to surprise the sleeping soldiers. To avoid making any noise, they advanced barefoot… until one of them stepped on a wild thistle. Stung by its thorns, he let out a cry of pain, thus waking the Scots. Alerted just in time, they were able to repel the attack and save their camp. Since then, the thistle has become a symbol of Scottish resistance and one of the country’s emblems.
For the English, further south, it is also a thorny plant, but with an inviting flower: the rose. This dates back to the War of the Roses between 1455 and 1485, when two groups were fighting for the crown of England: the House of Lancaster, whose emblem was the red rose, and the House of York, whose emblem was the white rose. To appease the two groups and demonstrate his neutrality, Henry Tudor, on becoming King of England, chose a red and white rose as his emblem. Even today, the Tudor rose is a national symbol of England.
Wales’ emblem is the leek. Legend has it that Saint David, patron saint of the Welsh, suggested that they always wear a leek on their helmet during battles with the Saxons so that they could distinguish their friends from their enemies.
France
France has not had a floral emblem since the French Revolution, when the fleur-de-lys was overwhelmingly rejected by the population as a symbol of the much-hated monarchy. Today, although replaced by republican symbols such as the tricolor flag, the fleur-de-lys remains visible in many coats of arms and historical monuments. Quebec was under English rule at the time of the French Revolution, and this aversion to the fleur-de-lis was therefore never passed on to us.
Quebec
Since our flag, chosen in 1948, displays a heraldic white fleur-de-lis, wasn’t it natural for the white lily to become our floral emblem in 1963? But even at the time, the choice of the white lily was highly controversial. After all, the lily chosen, the Madonna lily (Lilium candidum) was neither native to Quebec nor easy to grow there. Worse still, the heraldic fleur-de-lis is not a lily, but an iris! This curious error of interpretation was corrected in 1999, when the blue flag iris (Iris versicolor) was adopted to replace the white lily as the floral emblem. It is the perfect compromise: the flower has the same shape as the heraldic fleur-de-lis, a blue color more or less close to the color of the flag, but it is a native species that grows almost everywhere in the province, and therefore represents us well.
Canada
If you think that Canada’s floral emblem is the maple leaf, you’re wrong… partially. Canada does not have an official floral emblem, but there’s no denying that the maple leaf is indeed the country’s unofficial emblem, appearing not only on the currency, but also on the flag. Many people still think that this leaf is that of a sugar maple, but it is not. The sugar maple, despite its historical interest, is a species from the east of the country. The maple (Acer), on the other hand, in one form or another, grows everywhere in the country and so the emblem of the country is simply the maple, without further specification.
Other Provinces
The emblems of the other provinces are:
Alberta: rickly wild rose (Rosa acicularis)
British Columbia: Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii)
Prince Edward Island: lady’s slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule)
Manitoba: prairie crocus (Pulsatilla patens)
New Brunswick: cow violet (Viola cucullata)
Nova Scotia: Creeping woodrose (Epigaea repens)
Nunavut: Purple saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia)
Ontario: White trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
Saskatchewan: Prairie lily (Lilium philadelphicum)
Newfoundland: Pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea)
Northwest Territories: mountain avens (Dryas octopetala)
Yukon: willow-herb (Epilobium angustifolium syn. Chamerion angustifolium)
Around the World
South Africa: royal protea (Protea cynaroides)
Austria: edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)
China: peony (Paeonia)
United States: rose (Rosa sp.)
Finland: lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis)
India: lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)
Iran: tulip (Tulipa sp.)
Japan: chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum sp.)
Malaysia: hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)
Mexico: dahlia (Dahlia sp)
Netherlands: tulip (Tulipa sp.)
Portugal: lavender (Lavandula sp.)
Switzerland: edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)
Vietnam: lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)
Now, a little challenge for gardeners: put these emblems together in your garden this summer for a truly international effect!
Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books in the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This text on the shamrock was originally published in Le Soleil on March 17, 2009.
So where did the 4 lead clover and good luck come from?
The official symbol of Ireland is actually the Irish harp!
What a fascinating look into the floral emblems of different regions! ?? The story of the shamrock and St. Patrick is especially interesting—it’s amazing how a simple clover became such a powerful symbol of Irish identity.
The leek is the national emblem of Wales.
The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, worn on St David’s Day (1 March) in Wales.
The Sessile Oak, also called the Welsh Oak is the national tree of Wales.
Each of the fifty States of the United States of America has an Official State Flower, as well as an Official State Tree. Some municipalities do also. Los Gatos does not yet, but should. It was my mother’s idea, but will probably not be executed until some politician can capitalize on it. I think that the Official Town Flower for Los Gatos should be cattail, Typha latifolia, since there could not be many other towns in America that it would be so relevant to.