This flag became a powerful symbol of Gay Pride, and in the years that followed, flowersgrew to be another meaningful way to express and celebrate the LGBTQ+ movement.
Courtesy of Lewis Miller Design
Courtesy of Lewis Miller Design
Baker had wanted each color to represent a message. To see more of the stunning Pride-inspired floral artwork created by Fleurs de Villes fleuristes, see our Galleries.
Now lavender roses are often the choice of LGBTQ+ partners on Valentine’s Day for same-sex marriage. Vancouver’s first official pride parade was in 1981, in Nelson Park, a tradition that still takes place today.
Vancouver’s pride community really took hold in the 1970s and 80s, when there were 12 gay bars in the West End alone.
(See it recreated by our in-house Fleuriste June Jung in Downtown Vancouver, in larger-than-life floral 'Love Hands').
2. Red represents life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony and purple for spirit.
When the flag was first created, there was a pink color for sexuality, which was removed for design purposes.
“There are many floral symbols besides dyed roses including green carnation, violets, lavender and pansies.”
Prager helps us explore each flower and its history in the LGBTQ+ movement. Later in the 1920s, drag queens like Jean Malin helped popularize gay-friendly bars in major cities, a trend that historian George Chauncey called “the Pansy Craze.”
Whereas the late 19th century restricted gay male activity to the seedy red-light district under the elevated train of the Bowery, with an even less visible lesbian life largely restricted to private salons for upper-class women, prohibition allowed the first emergence of a visible gay and lesbian life.
Prohibition forced all kinds of people to mix—all in search of the same illicit drink, and created a culture of at least mild tolerance if not outright “anything goes.” That shift raised awareness for outdated moralism of the Temperance movement.
These popular clubs were able to exist without pushback for a while.
Its message of inclusivity and welcoming resonates with everyone in the community.
But there are many who still wear lavender colours as a symbol of remembrance and resistance.
Roses
Roses are synonymous with love and romance all over the world.
But in Japan, roses became a symbol for gay men in the 1960s.
Previously a more pejorative word, the rose was reclaimed in 1961, with the publication of ‘Bara Kei’ (Killed by Roses), a collection of photos of gay writer Yukio Mishima by photographer Eikoh Hosoe.
This inspired the creation of Asia’s first commercially produced gay magazine, ‘Barazoku’ (Rose Tribe), which helped popularise the term ‘bara’ for gay men, and cemented the symbology of the rose in the gay community.
While the term bara is now used less in Japan, the rose is still seen as an icon of gay men in Japan.
Roses are also used as a symbol by the trans community, especially with regards to Trans Day of Remembrance.
The phrase “give us our roses while we’re still here” is used as a reminder that while it is good to remember those lost to violence, it is better for us all to make efforts to make the world a safer place for the trans community.
The language of flowers
These are just a few of the flowers that have been adopted as symbols by the queer community, but it’s not exhaustive.
There’s many other plant symbols; like the green carnation popularised by Oscar Wilde and a novel inspired by him, and the lily which became a lesbian counterpart to the rose in the pages of Barazoku.
Today, flowers are commonly seen as a part of vibrant Pride displays, serving as a reminder of their history as symbols of solidarity, resistance and empowerment.
Queer Nature
Celebrating diversity in art, plants and fungi.
As historian Naoko Shibusawa wrote in The Lavender Scare and Empire: Rethinking Cold War Antigay Politics, Betty Friedan labeled their involvement “the Lavender Menace.”
Lesbian feminist Rita Mae Brown and other activists fought back in 1970 by disrupting a women’s event wearing T-shirts that said “Lavender Menace.” The crowd supported them and welcomed them into the fold.
Pansies
Marcel Proust’s Sodome et Gomorrhe referred to male-male courtship as being similar to the process of flower fertilization. He instructed his friends to wear them on their lapels to the opening of his comedy, Lady Windermere’s Fan.
Recently, Taylor Swift wrote a song called “Lavender Haze” which took a 50s term of being in love and modernized it.
Love Hands by June Jung, Vancouver 2022
Love Hands by June Jung, Vancouver 2022
Sylvester floral mannequin created by Bellevue Floral Co., San Francisco 2023
Sylvester floral mannequin created by Bellevue Floral Co., San Francisco 2023
Deni Todorovic floral mannequin created by Paper Daisy Studio, Sydney 2023
BACK TO JOURNAL
Violets have been linked with the poet Sappho (6 BCE) for over two and half thousand years.
1. In Harlem in 1869, the masquerade balls became popular. Subsequently, it became a coded symbol that a man was attracted to men.
Symbolism of Flowers in the LGBTQ+ Movement
By Jill Brooke
Expect to see a kaleidoscope of rainbow-colored roses this month for several fantastic reasons.
Depending on the translation, wreaths, garlands or diadems of violets being placed on the ’slender neck‘ of a girl.
Sappho’s passionate writing on the delicate beauty of woman led to both her name and her nationality becoming intrinsically linked to women who love women, ‘sapphic’ and ‘lesbian’ respectively.
There are many examples in arts and letters where flowers are used for queer symbolism.
Violet sales also plummeted as a result of the association.
However, at the play’s showing in Paris, some women wore the flower on their lapels as a show of support.
In his play, Suddenly Last Summer, Tennessee Williams also weaved violets and its symbolism into the plot by naming a character Mrs.
Violet Venable. Yaletown was also home to two of the most famous gay bars, The Gandy Dancer on Hamilton Street and The Quadra, located at 1055 Homer Street on top of a postal sorting station.