We can find flower symbolic all around us – in stories, myths, music, and art in general. People who lived near flowers were inspired by their colors, scents, appearances, that they couldn’t resist describing them in many ways.
When you enter a florist shop, you will get lost for a second in that variety of colors and shapes, but one flower will surely attract your attention especially. However, you should know its symbolism and meaning before gifting it to someone, as you surely want to send a specific message to that person.
We will talk about the Columbine flower in this text and its strong symbolical meaning, as it dates a hundred years in the past.
What Is the Meaning of the Columbine Flower
The main meanings of the Columbine flower are:
• Love,
• Foolishness,
• Winning,
• Faith.
Columbine flower represents love and romance through centuries. Many ancient stories and myths about the Columbine flower are related to romance and lovers. If you want to surprise your partner with a beautiful flower and show her your love, the Columbine flower might be a great choice. Columbine flower maybe seems small, but its message of love and affection is deep and strong. People who understand the meaning of the Columbine flower will get enchanted and flattered if someone gifts it to them.
However, as we all know, love goes hand by hand with foolishness. Columbine flower also represents foolishness and even immaturity in some sense. People usually relate the meaning of the Columbine flower to someone’s personality, especially because this flower’s hat reminds of the court jester’s hat. Columbine flower might be a great gift to someone who likes jokes and has a sense of humor, but be careful when gifting it in order to prevent sending a wrong message.
Another meaning of the Columbine flower is faith. Now that you know this flower also symbolizes love, you can combine love, faith, and hope in one, which means the Columbine flower is such a supporting and loving gift for someone who means a lot to you. Every one of us needs some support and someone who will love us no matter what is happening around while the Columbine flower sends just the right message.
Columbine flower is small, but it can make a big change in someone’s day, as living with love and hope is all we want. If someone you love goes through a rough period in love, show them that you care about them, love them, and give them a dash of faith that everything will be just fine soon.
Who doesn’t like winning? Columbine flower represents winners and winning, so you can gift it to someone who made a great accomplishment or progress in their life and show them your respect and support in the future.
The Etymological Meaning of the Columbine Flower
Columbine flower pulls its roots from the Latin word Columba, which is a word for love. Ancient people used the Columbine flower to prove their love and affection towards someone who was extremely dear to their hearts. Aquilegia flower is the scientific name for the Columbine flower and it means eagle.
The reason why the Columbine flower was named like this is that its appearance resembles an eagle. Eagles fly through mountains of Colorado gracefully, while the Columbine flowers grow on these mountains. The conditions in these mountains are pretty tough, but the Columbine flower rises above it all and grows into one of the most beautiful flowers.
The Symbolism of the Columbine Flower
The symbolism of the Columbine flower dates thousand years back. Ancient people saw the Columbine flower as a sign of high intellect and wisdom. Columbine flower was important to the Christian world, as it represented one of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives.
This flower was seen as a metaphor for knowledge, strength, piety, and fear. You might ask now why the Columbine flower represents fear, but this is not the typical fear, but more fear of God’s will and God’s disappointment.
Columbine flower was a symbol of portals to Earth according to Celtic culture. The Celts believed the Columbine flower opens the door to this world and closes the door of the spiritual world. As the Columbine flower resembles five doves in a circle, people from Austria took it as a symbol of five doves.
The Victorians saw the Columbine flower as a symbol of victory and winning. If someone gave the Columbine flower to his opponent, that was a sign of his determination to win. Ancient Greek considered the Columbine flower a symbol of the goddess of love – Aphrodite.
As we already mentioned, the flower of the Columbine might remind you of a jester, which is the reason why people believed it was a symbol of fools and foolishness.
Columbine Flower – Color and Meaning
Columbine is a flower that comes in several colors and shades, which also means it has deep and detail symbolism and meaning as it covers a wide range. The main colors of the Columbine flower are purple, red, white, and yellow.
Purple is a color of nobility, beauty, charm, mystery, and royalty, and these are the traits the purple Columbine flower represents. As the purple color might be a bit eccentric, you want to gift the purple Columbine flower to someone who likes to stand out and who is extraordinary in many ways, but avoid gifting it to someone you are in love with.
Yellow Columbine flower symbolizes happiness, success, friendship, optimism, and good vibes. If you want to surprise a family member or a friend and make their day brighter, gift them the yellow Columbine flower. Yellow Columbine flower spreads good energy and positivism all around, so you can decorate your home with these joyful flowers and attract new, positive things. On the other side, as the Columbine flower symbolizes winning, you can add some motivation by looking at it.
Red Columbine flower stands for love, passion, and desire, as you could suggest. If you want to show someone you see them as something more than friends and express your emotions, gift that person the Columbine flower. This is a bit direct, but a nice way to make someone you like know that. Red Columbine flower is a small flower, but it carries a strong message of love.
White Columbine flower is a symbol of spirituality, innocence, purity, and faith. As we already mentioned, the Columbine flower was related to spirituality and religion, while the white color adds on symbolic. White Columbine flower is elegant and feminine so you can use it in wedding arrangements and bouquets.
Botanical Characteristics of the Columbine Flower
Columbine flower belongs to the Ranunculaceae family of plants. This is a resistant perennial plant and its natural habitat are meadows and forests at higher altitudes. Columbine flower grows mostly on the northern hemisphere and that is why it can stand lower temperatures well. This plant comes in about 70 different species and varieties, while its most familiar type is Aquilegia vulgaris that grows on European fond.
Columbine flower grows just right on sun-drenched terrains and it loves humid and rich hummus and polished billets. Columbine flower types grow differently in height, so you can find those at only 20 cm but the ones that grow up to 90 cm in height.
After the Columbine flower blossoms, green cauldrons within the flower rip the seeds within. The seeds will eventually get dry while the top of the flower opens. That is when small black seeds of the Columbine flower are scattered all around the ground. If you happen to grow more than one species of the Columbine flower, it might be that different seeds will begin to cross so that you will get a self-made and unique Columbine flower in your garden. Columbine flower’s over-ground part dies in the winter and grows again in the spring.
Ashes and diseases attack the Columbine flower sometimes, but you still don’t have a reason to worry. If this happens, just remove the dead leaves from your Columbine flowers and you will solve the issue. Pests are typical for several months of the year, especially in the spring as this is the time when your Columbine flowers might get attacked by their worst enemies so keep your eye on the leaves in the spring.
Even though the Columbine is a beautiful flower, this is a very poisonous plant at the same time. As it is allowed to use it in smaller quantities, American Indians consumed it as a medicine against ulcers.
However, as they didn’t have adequate knowledge about it, we can’t guarantee or recommend using it nowadays.
Columbine flower went through the course of evolution. Some types of the Columbine flower are “open” to specialized pollinators only, closing the door for other insects. This means some Columbine flower species are not available to cross with other species as they developed this type of reproductive isolation.
Aquilegia flower, or Aquilegia vulgaris, is one of the most common species of the Columbine flower and you can find it in rocky fields, forests, and mountainous terrains.
The lower leaves of the Columbine flowers form a rosette above which emerge new floral steps, which are arranged incorrectly. Columbine flower blooms from May to July and you can also easily propagate it in the spring. If your Columbine flowers are a couple of years old, propagate them into late spring.
Columbine Flower – Fun Facts
Columbine flower has blue and gray foliage.
According to the US Forest Service, the Columbine flower has been present in North America for 40,000 years now. Columbine flower actually migrated from Asia to the other parts of the world.
If you are wondering how the Columbine flower manages long periods of drought, the answer is in its long taproots. The roots are usually long, which makes the Columbine flower a bit hard to transplant. Go with smaller plants if your Columbines need transplanting.
If the Columbine flower grows in a sunny place, there are more chances that it will grow in height and the flower will be profuse, while shady places affect the Columbine flower to become leggy.
Columbine flower produces nectar and this is the main delicacy of many butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, while birds love its seedpods in the fall.
Even though the Columbine flower is a perennial plant, it usually lives up to 3 years, but good thing is that they grow from seed so new Columbine flowers will appear every year. Don’t be surprised if the new flowers are slightly different, due to the crossing process.
Native Americans believed the Columbine flower treats headaches.
Aquilegia caerulea originate from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Edwin James, a hiker, discovered this species of the Columbine flower in 1820. Columbine flower became Colorado state’s flower, while it became the state’s song in 1915. The state of Colorado gave the Columbine flower protected status in 1925.
Conclusion
Just as the Columbine flower carries its meaning and symbolic, it also hides a secret message that we need to understand if we want to gift this flower to someone. No matter of its size, the Columbine flower is a powerful and meaningful flower that might implement new energy into our lives.
The secret messages are a bit harder to realize and that is why we need to dig a bit deeper to reveal the secret message of the Columbine flower. It actually says to us that we shouldn’t be afraid to go out into the world. Be courageous and spontaneous, have faith and love life – that is the right way that leads you to victories.
Columbine flower also reminds you of the importance to love yourself but to show your love and affection towards other people. There are some times when we become preoccupied with work or some trivial things so that we forget that people we love are the most important.
Columbine flower teaches us to stop for a second and relax, as there is no need to take things so seriously. Focus your attention to important people in your life and by loving them and having faith in yourself you will conquer the world.
