Selam: the language of flowers

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it is easier to send an emoji, gif, or meme instead of text? They can convey the vibe more accurately, remind a friend of your secret joke, or tell someone special something you are afraid to express in words. If we now have an emoji panel and hundreds of sticker packs, people used to look for these sticker packs in reality. This is how selam, the language of flowers, arose. Stay tuned: we will learn the history of this language as well as a little dictionary, so you can encode the next message for your bestie or crush in the floral form.

Where did it all begin

Communication through the symbolism of flowers has existed for the whole history of humanity. It turns out that we like to give everything extra meaning, right?? The Song of Songs of the Old Testament mentions lilies and roses as plants of love. In China, flowers are divided into ones that embody the feminine principle "yin" (for example, chrysanthemum) and those that represent the masculine "yang" (such as peony). The Turks believe happiness is hidden at the bottom of tulips? Thus, almost every culture around the globe has different meanings for numerous species of flora.

A boom in the Victorian era

During the journey to Turkey, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English poet, and aristocrat noticed that local women played a friendly game. They gave each other presents — things that rhyme with each other. The British aristocrat romanticized the game. She wrote to her friends that in this game, there lies an opportunity to convey love messages and go unnoticed.

The Victorian aristocrats needed such a language! In their time, talking about your feelings was considered vulgar and unacceptable. You really started to get acquainted with a person only after marriage (what?). So they took flowers as a basis for the new “present language,” which was named selam.

Such a choice was made due to a number of reasons.

Floral compositions are beautiful.
It is easy to say that it's just a bouquet and no symbols are hidden in it.
It is sexy: the message is visible but still secret at the same time.

And it's not just about bouquets, but also about jewelry, clothes, and anything with a floral print.

The popularity of selam spread around Europe. Thousands of books with the code of the language of flowers were printed everywhere. And often, they had the opposite meanings! LOL. Just imagine: you send your crush a tulip to make a compliment, and they translate it as "I don't take you seriously."

Rutledge's "Language of Flowers" (1884) became the leading book after all. And it is still being republished and widely popular.

Lil flower vocabulary

We've flipped through a few flower dictionaries and adapted their meanings to our reality. Have fun and consider these flowers as a gift for someone! ?