FLOWERS, NATIONAL AND SY NI IIOLICA L. The use of flowers its symbols began in very early times, and has eontinned to the preseut day among nearly all nations. Biblical literature contains many allusions to floral symbols. and China once possessed a complete floral alphabet. At the present day the Chinese make a lavish use of flowers in many of their public and re ligious eeremonies, on occasions of marriage, death, and burial, as well as in the decoration of the temples of their deities, the graves of their dead, and their private dwellings.
The monuments of Egypt and Assyria also have upon their surfaces a code of floral callig raphy whose meaning can now be hut dimly guessed. the sacred lily, or lotus, of Egypt plays a prominent part. it was consecrated to the gods, and beeame in time the national emblem. The Egyptian deity Osiris (q.v.) is por trayed with his head crowned with this blossom; it is painted on the walls and carved on the doors of the temples.
India had in her magnificent flora a wonder ful field for poetical genius. The lotus was here, and is now, the sacred flower. In its bosom Brahma. was believed to have been born: and it is to the Ifindus the chariot of their Cupid, whom they picture as first seen pinioned with flowers and floating down the sacred Ganges upon it. The lotus became, through its association with religious rites. an emblem of mystery. and orals hence frequently used for arcliiteetural adornment. Among the Hindus distinguished strangers are welcomed with garlands of flowers as tokens of hospitality, and the shrines of their favorite deities are decoratA•d with these emblems.
In Persia a yearly festival is held called the 'feast of roses,' which lasts as long as the roses bloom. The literatures and languages of the Hindu. Turkish. Persian. Arabic. and .talus races abound in floral symbols. In Japan the lotus is a symbol of purity. The Japanese pic ture their deity reclining upon the leaf of a water-lily, or lotus, and often name their Chil dren after beautiful flowers. The chrysanthe mum, or 'golden flower,' is the nathinal emblem. and the country is popularly called the 'Land of Chrysanthemums. and a day is yearly set apart in that country for the 'festival of chrys anthemums.' From early days there have been two royal crests in Japan: one is the paulownia tree, which is seen only on the seals of the Emperor's family: the other, the ehrysanthe mum. which is used for all mwernmental sym
bols outside the palace. The 'flower is embroid ered on their flags and banners. and printed on important papers. It is stamped on their silks and has decorated their finest porcelain for hun dreds of years.
European florigraphy had its rise in Greece. and many of the old floral customs still linger about the Grecian islands. The Greeks not only 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 OuvE) ; the Pythian victor received a laurel crown. In the Nennean games, a crown of parsley was awarded: in the Elean. a crown of pine-leaves. The youths crowned themselves with flowers in the fifes. the priests in religions 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, o Floralia, were not regularly established until B.C. 173, when it was ordained that the feast should he annually kept on the ::Nth 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.