Rose: the history of the American symbol

The more often we travel around the world, the more we become convinced of its diversity and diversity. We are talking not only about the national characteristics, architecture, or way of life of specific countries and regions, but also about the differences in their nature, climate, landscape with the predominant flora and fauna there. One can easily imagine how the first settlers, who arrived here mainly from Europe, were amazed by the American environment. And given its vast expanses, it is not surprising that the flowers, birds, trees and animals in each state of the future united country were very different from each other. So in its north, priority was given in New York State to rose, bluebird and sugar maple, in Minnesota to lady's slipper, loon and red pine, and in Montana to Lewisia, lark and yellow pine. In the south, in Texas - cornflower, mockingbird and dwarf palm, and in Arizona - cactus, cactus wren and acacia. In the west, in California - poppy, prairie quail and poplar. And in the east, in North Carolina - dogwood, cardinal and southern pine. With 50 states in the country, these differences were enormous. Nevertheless, it was still possible to identify the main common symbols for the entire country: a bird, a tree, a flower and a representative of mammals. Among the flowers is a rose.

Фото: Depositphotos

So you stop somewhere high in the Alps, confident that there is not a single living soul hundreds of kilometers away, you are looking for a place for a “roadside picnic”, and suddenly a huge multi-colored meadow, like an exquisite carpet, opens up in front of you, filled with wild flowers . How did they get here, what wind brought them here, and who painted them in these extraordinary colors? And it begins to seem that they have always been on this earth, forever. And in the Biblical Eden, and Ancient Hellas, as well as in the paradise of Persia. According to historical data, in the gardens of Egypt and Syria, various types of roses, lilies, as well as simpler flowers - lilies of the valley and poppies, which they tried to grow throughout the year, were quite popular. During excavations of the Egyptian pyramids, flower seeds were discovered. Did floriculture really exist among them already in those distant times? What is firmly known is that Ancient China was the most successful in this direction. Roses and chrysanthemums of unprecedented beauty were grown there. This is not surprising, since the mentality of local residents still includes hard work, perseverance and a craving for everything beautiful. And what could be more beautiful than flowers? And if God really wanted to create a perfect and beautiful world, then most likely he started with flowers. The beauty of each flower is unique, as is its energy, and this is what the science of fluorography deals with, which reveals the meaning and symbolism of various flowers and plants.
It received its development even in the Victorian era, when what could not be expressed in words, conveyed the symbol of the flower. Here, for example, as told by representatives of the company Mona Flowers:

Infographics: Leonid Rayevsky

As you can see, many flowers are wonderful and beautiful, they have their own characteristics and interesting stories. In this regard, each country chooses its own “national flower.” This concept is very ancient: it originated before national flags were established in most countries. Then the national flower played a fairly large role, sometimes being a symbol, a sign of distinction for a certain people. But even now flowers have not completely lost their position in the international arena and are often the “logos” of many countries. It's no secret that the national flower of Russia is the chamomile, the national flower of Ukraine is the red poppy, China is the narcissus, Egypt is the lotus, Switzerland is the edelweiss, and Scotland is the thistle. It would seem, why? That there are no more beautiful flowers in the country? But the Scots have an interesting explanation and a beautiful legend about this. Once, an army of Danes secretly approached the castle where the Scottish kings lived. The Danish soldiers took off their shoes so that none of the sentries could hear them. But in the darkness someone stepped on a thistle flower and screamed in pain. The alarm immediately rose in the castle, and the Scots defeated the enemy. Since then, the thistle has become a symbol of Scotland.

In Germany, there is also a corresponding legend about her favorite flower, the cornflower. Once, immediately after the capture of the Prussian kingdom by Napoleon's troops, Queen Louise unwittingly had to attend a ball hosted by the Emperor of France and his generals. She did not wear any jewelry, only a wreath of cornflowers was worn on her head. Naturally, the French began to ridicule Her Majesty. However, the great queen immediately put them in their place. “Yes,” she said, “I’m not wearing any jewelry. Some of them were plundered by you, the rest were sold to save the devastated country and its inhabitants from hunger. We don’t even have flowers left, because the fields are so trampled by your boots that even cornflowers are very rare on them.” Knowing this story, her son Wilhelm I turned the cornflower into a symbol of German rule. It was called that way in the country - “the flower of the emperor.” And in China, the flower symbol of the country is the narcissus. An ancient legend connects this choice with the story of a poor woman living alone with her son in absolute poverty. One day, a mother scraped together a handful of rice to cook lunch for her son. Suddenly a traveler knocked on the house and asked for food. The kind woman gave him the last rice and began to cry - now she had nothing to feed her son. But this traveler turned out to be a water god. He decided to thank the woman and soon sank into a pond located nearby. And the next morning a delicate flower grew in it. Since then, the daffodil in China has been a symbol of gratitude. It blooms during the Chinese New Year and is therefore also a symbol of joy, good luck and a happy marriage in China. His presence is mandatory in every home on New Year's holiday. There are many more stories about different colors. But… It's time to talk about the rose - the official flower symbol of the United States.

A bit of history

Rose is called the queen of flowers. And not by chance. Not a single flower can be compared with a rose due to its noble form, beauty and sophistication of fragrance. There are many legends about the place where the rose first appeared. And this is understandable: each country would like to reserve the right of priority. After all, it was a divine rose. Fossils with imprints of rose petals were found in the mountains of Colorado, which provided evidence of the ancient origin of the rose, about 35-32 million years ago. Rose designs have been found on silver coins from the 4th to 6th millennium BC. e. From that period there are also clay tablets found in the Mesopotamian region, on which roses were depicted. China is also the progenitor of the primordial forms of roses. Already 2500 years ago, the Celestial Empire surpassed all lands with its pink flowers. But the rose received the greatest honor in Persia. There she was considered a symbol of wealth. Back in the XNUMXth century, Persia bore the proud name of Gulistan, or the rose garden.

In ancient India, the one who brought a rose to the king could ask for the fulfillment of any desire. Tribute was paid in roses, and rose oil was worth its weight in gold. The earliest depiction of them in Europe is considered to be the frescoes of the Knossos Palace in Crete, which date back to the 170th century. BC e. Around the same time, the rose was widespread in Egypt. During excavations of Egyptian tombs from XNUMX BC. e. wreaths of roses were discovered that were so well preserved that their botanical species was even established. It was in the subtropics of Southeast Asia that the rose was introduced into culture. According to the general direction of the “migration of peoples” - from southeast to northwest - the rose was brought from there to Ancient Greece. There they considered her a gift from the gods and believed that she appeared from the white foam that covered the body of Aphrodite, emerging from the sea at birth. The rose remained white until the misfortune happened. Aphrodite received news that her lover Adonis had been mortally wounded by a boar. In indescribable grief, the goddess rushed to the grove of Python, where her beloved was located. She ran, not paying attention to the fact that roses came across her path, whose thorns wounded her legs until they bled. A few drops of this divine blood, falling on the roses, turned them from white to red.

Another myth has been preserved about how red roses appeared, from which it follows that Amur gave this flower to the world. Once, during the feast of the gods, fluttering, he overturned a vessel with nectar, and this magical liquid, falling on the roses, gave the flowers a wonderful smell and dyed them red. From the deep Middle Ages, another of the legends about why the rose turned red has come down to us - it allegedly blushed with pleasure after Eve, who was walking in the Garden of Eden, kissed her. And also the story that the supposedly red moss rose arose from the drops of Christ's blood flowing down the Cross and falling on the moss, where the rose soon grew. Its bright red color was probably supposed to remind us of the blood shed for our sins. However, we are more familiar with the lyrical story sung by Oscar Wilde about the selfless Nightingale and Rose, who enthusiastically pressed a white rose to his chest. However, during the song, sharp thorns pierced his chest and heart, and the scarlet blood forever dyed the petals of the marvelous flower red.

It should be noted that when rose bushes from Greece came to Rome, where they first began to build greenhouses for growing blooming roses in winter, they already had a fairly wide range of colors. And they were not only white or black. However, after the fall of Rome, the general decline also affected the culture of rose breeding, which was interrupted for several centuries. During the era of the Crusades, knights returning from the East brought new types of roses. It is quite possible that this is how the Damask rose (Rosa damascena) was brought to Europe. From the middle of the 13th century. The French rose, Gallica (R. gallica), the oldest of the garden roses, also begins to be mentioned. It got its name because it quickly spread to France (Gaul). In Provence, this plant gained popularity especially quickly. It was there that the custom of choosing the most beautiful girl as the queen of roses originated. At the same time, during the celebration, one should drink only rose wines. In the Middle Ages, the rose also became a sign of secret societies. On the axes of the members of the Westphalian courts, a knight was depicted holding a bouquet of roses. The Freemason lodges and the mystical society of the Rosicrucians also chose the rose as their symbol. However, as one of the researchers of this society, Menly P. Hall, noted: “Rosicrucian symbols have so many meanings that their true meaning has not yet been revealed. The mountain on which the House of the Rose and Cross stands is still hidden in the clouds, in which the brothers, hiding themselves, hide their secrets ... " By the way, one of the symbolic directions associated with the rose relates specifically to the area of ​​maintaining secrecy and silence, and was even dedicated to Harpocrates, the god of silence, who, as you know, was depicted as a young man with a finger attached to his lips. During Roman feasts, to remind hotheads to keep their mouths shut, an artificial white rose was fixed to the ceiling of the banquet hall. The look at her forced many to restrain their unnecessary frankness. It is believed that the well-known Latin expression “sub rosa dictum” - “said under a rose”, in the sense: under a secret - came from this tradition. This is where the tradition of placing roses on the ceilings of knights’ halls or meeting rooms of many medieval palaces and castles comes from, as a reminder to those gathered of the need to keep the complete secret of what was heard within these walls. Thus, in the famous German castle Eltz, a rose was also depicted above the exit door, so that those leaving the main hall, looking at it, would not dare to continue the conversation started inside it. How quickly morals change. Would any of the guests look at the poor rose today?

In later Christian legends, you can find records that the archangel Gabriel presented Virgin Mary on the day of the Annunciation, it was roses. And painters should depict the Virgin Mary with three wreaths. Where a wreath of white roses would mean her joy, red roses would mean suffering, and yellow roses would mean glory. Later, chroniclers agreed that it was the rose branch in the ocean that allegedly became a signal to Columbus that land was ahead. And she was America. But about America a little later, although right here, the story is well known about how Roses were destined to play an important role in one of the bloodiest wars in the history of England, which lasted almost 30 years - from 1455 to 1485, and has been preserved in history , like the War of the White and Scarlet Roses.

These flowers were the heraldic signs of the houses of Lancaster (scarlet) and York (white), who fought for the English throne. At the end of the Thirty Years' War, neither the Yorks nor the Lancasters, completely exhausted, could no longer continue the struggle for the throne. The Tudors, who had achieved power, put an end to the strife and united both roses on their coat of arms. English coins of the time, along with King Henry VI, featured scarlet and white roses. Since then, the rose has been a symbol of the British royal dynasty, and white and red are the most significant and widespread colors of roses not only in England, but throughout the world, where roses are known in many other colors and shades - up to 2500 varieties.

In addition to the three main types of roses (Damask, French and Centifolian), in the Middle Ages, the culture of a special white rose (R. alba. L.), originating from central Europe and the Mediterranean, gradually began to be introduced. She was very popular during the Renaissance, and we often find her image in the paintings of Italian artists. Since we have already talked about this, it should be recalled that the organizer of the first rose garden in Europe, located in Malmaison (a suburb of Paris), was the French Empress Josephine, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. In her collection, there were about 250 species and forms of roses, collected by order of Napoleon in the Mediterranean, China and South America. The artist Pierre Joseph Redoute, who served at the courts of Marie Antoinette and Empress Josephine, captured this collection in watercolors. He was one of the most famous artists who depicted flowers on his canvases. Redoubt created 169 watercolors from the Malmaison rose collection. They called him the Raphael of the Rose. Together with the famous botanist Claude Antoine Tory, he published the three-volume Les Roses (which includes about 170 illustrations of roses from Josephine's rosary), which is of great historical significance not only for botanists, but for all mankind. In those days, collecting roses was a popular and enjoyable pastime of secular society. But the main problems in the process of the appearance of the rose, which is considered to be the first modern rose of the hybrid tea group, were solved in 1867 by the French breeder Baptiste Guyot (B. Guillot). He brought out a new variety with delicate elegant flowers, which satisfied everyone: it had a long, abundant flowering, a compact bush, high frost resistance and a pleasant smell. Since then, a huge number of varieties of roses have been bred in the world. Roses are obtained by breeding, the petals of which have all kinds of colors. Along with large flowers, the American Moore managed to grow miniature roses. All these roses were so beautiful and pleasant that their name was the basis for many female names around the world. This is Rosalia, Rosanna, Rosella, Rosellina, Rosetta, Rosinella, Rosita, Rosabella, Rosalda, Rosalind, Rosangela, Rosaura. In the same row is the Russian Rose, which received such forms in Europe as Rosie, Roset, etc. Not to mention the names. There are a lot of them in every country. The need to streamline the collection of taxes and recruitment in many countries led to the fact that at the turn of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries in Austria (Austria-Hungary), the Russian Empire and the German states, laws were passed obliging the Jewish population of these countries to adopt hereditary surnames. But there were very few of them, and therefore the names of cities and towns of residence, professions, personal characteristics, names of animals and plants were laid as the basis for surnames. This is how numerous Rosenblums, Rosenstocks, Rosenbaums, Rosenzweigs, Rosenfelds or Rozanovs appeared. By the way, there are a lot of Rozanovs among the original Russian surnames. For example, the famous Russian philosopher V.V. Rozanov.

And if you open American Wikipedia, we will immediately find a list of 50 of the country's most famous politicians, scientists, lawyers, designers, writers, actors, musicians and athletes bearing the surname Rose. And it’s hard to even imagine how many of them are less famous, or with surnames derived from Rosa. As well as the number of poets, musicians and artists who sang the beauty and tenderness of this wonderful flower. Thousands of songs have been sung about roses around the world. At one time, the hit “The Yellow Rose of Texas” was especially popular in America, exalting the power of love and friendship over betrayal. The song “Kennedy Rose” was also quite famous, about Rose Kennedy, the matriarch of an American family, who lived to be 104 years old and gave the world 9 children, including the President of the United States, the Attorney General and two Senators. But when we talk about songs related to roses, we first of all remember “A Million Roses” - a song based on the poems of A. Voznesensky. It reminds us of the love story of the Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani. Having seen and selflessly fallen in love with the singer and dancer Margarita de Sèvres, who came on tour to Tiflis at the beginning of the last century, and suffering from unrequited love, Niko once strewn the entire pavement in front of the hotel where his beloved lived with a flower carpet. And he went to her, straight through the flowers. Seeing this miracle, Margarita ran out to him, hugged him and kissed him on the lips “in the face of the sun, sky and ordinary people.” But this was her only kiss, since she soon left Tiflis with a rich admirer. This is how his romantic love story ended sadly.

"Margarita" Niko Pirosmani
Photo: Wikipedia, public domain

Of course, as the writer K. Paustovsky later described this story, on numerous carts the drivers brought to the house not only roses, but also begonias, honeysuckle, poppies, lilies, nasturtiums, peonies and other flowers. But A. Voznesensky, who probably knew very well the story of Cleopatra, who met Anthony in the hall, on the floor of which roses and pink petals were scattered in a thick layer, nevertheless decided to write a song only about “millions of scarlet roses,” which was wonderfully performed by A. Pugacheva . At the end of 2018 - beginning of 2019. An exhibition of works by this brilliant representative of primitivism and the greatest master of “naive art” Niko Pirosmani was held in Vienna. Especially for her, the famous Japanese architect, Pritzker Prize winner Tadao Ando created a unique art object - a seven-meter table made of organic glass, decorated with hundreds of blue roses, dedicating it to the Georgian artist.

But why did Andro, who is well familiar with the very popular song “about a million scarlet roses” in Japan, still decorate his roses blue? After all, everyone knows that it is impossible to grow blue roses, since they lack the specific enzyme that allows them to create this color. And yet, after decades of research, the Japanese company Suntory, with the assistance of the Australian Florigene, discovered that blue roses can still be obtained by introducing the pansy gene into the flowers.

And already in 2004, with the help of genetic modification, a rose containing blue pigment was created. So in our time, a Japanese architect combined a touching story about an artist, his unrequited love, with a song that “who is in love, who is in love, who is in love and will seriously turn His life into flowers for you,” and the achievements of genetic technologies.

Roses in America

As you know, English settlers brought the rose to America (after all, it is still a symbolic flower in England), and here it has become widespread. No wonder New York State has named it its favorite flower. Moreover, in addition to beauty and aroma, the flower also has healing properties for healing the body. So, using aromatherapy, you can fight depression and heart pain. Its scent improves mood and calms the nerves. Rose petals are edible, they are used to make jam, add to tea and desserts. Infusions strengthen the body and fight ailments. Rose oil is highly valued, but its price is quite high. Indeed, for the production of one liter of oil, it takes up to five tons of blossoming buds. The use of roses in perfumery is also widely known.

However, one should not think that before the British, Native Americans knew nothing about the rose flower. It’s just that in America the wild rose has long been known - Rosa arkansana, which is better known in our country as rose hips, but according to tradition continues to be called a rose. She was so familiar and loved here that states like Iowa and North Dakota recognized her as their favorite flower. For many of us, this is unusual. Sometimes it can even lead to incidents. So in Europe is well known the story of the so-called. The “thousand-year-old rose” that grows near the wall of the city’s cathedral. Hildesheim in Germany. According to the legend, more than 1000 years ago, the German emperor ordered to build this cathedral on the very spot where the rose bush grows, in which it was discovered by the guards many days after an accidental fall from a horse. But he was found alive and healed from wounds. It is this bush, which helped him survive, that is still growing at the end wall of the cathedral, despite numerous wars and the bombing of World War II. And still continues to bloom. Why was included in the lists of UNESCO as a monument of world heritage. So one day a group of our compatriots came to him, inspired by the desire to see the “thousand-year-old rose” bush. You can imagine their faces when, instead of the rose bush they were expecting, they saw a flowering rose hip. You need to be prepared for this when visiting the numerous parks, gardens, and special rosaries located throughout America. Officially, around 350 rose gardens and parks are registered in the country. Many of them are united in various associations and unions. For example, the Gardens of the American Rose Society Gardens offer their guests to visit their parks: the American Rose Society Gardens, San Jose City Garden of Roses, Rudolph W. Rose Garden. van der Gotha, Washington International Rose Garden, Rose Club Library Garden, Rose Garden Laura Conyers Smith, Masquerade Rose Garden, Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, Historic Rose Garden Sacramento, Ines Parker Memorial Rose Garden, Rose Garden in Biltmore, etc. But when it comes to specialized rose gardens, Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in Hartford, Connecticut is not only the oldest (1870), but also one of the most famous pink parks in the country and abroad. Currently, it grows around 15 000 bushes and 800 rose varieties, and the park is rightfully entered into the National Register of Historic Places of America. The Rosewood Museum in Tombstone (Arizona, USA) deserves special mention. Although this is not so much a rose museum, as a museum of the Scottish Robertson family, who came to America in 1880 and founded a small private hotel for other colonists arriving from Europe. The hotel owner's wife, longing for her homeland, planted the Lady Banksia rose, called Banksiae alba in the botanical literature, in the courtyard of the house. Since then, the rose has grown to incredible sizes. The area of ​​its crown is 850 square meters, but it blooms only once a year, in spring.

It should be noted that America has strong traditions not only in the cultivation and cultivation of roses, but also in the holding of special Festivals and Parades dedicated to this wonderful flower. They are held in spring, summer and autumn, in different places of the country, painted with local traditions and colors.

The season opens with a Parade or Tournament of Roses in the suburbs of Los Angeles - Pasadena. Every year, on the first of January, dozens of huge arrangements of roses and other bright flowers take part in a grandiose street procession, up to nine kilometers long, and broadcast live on national television. Taking into account the unusual date and the performance itself, the city gathers up to a million guests these days. The program of the holiday includes a parade of orchestras from all over the world, a two-hour performance of riders, festivals of flowers, music and sports. It has been held since 1890 and is soon preparing to celebrate its 130th anniversary.

In June, picks up the baton Portland, which has long been called the city of roses. Thanks to the fact that more than a hundred years ago, the townspeople lovingly planted a huge number of roses around it. In addition, Portland also deserves its name because it is home to one of the largest and oldest rose gardens in America. The Rose Festival lasts here for about two weeks. Solemn processions with flowers, musical accompaniment, huge platforms with figures of flowers moving along the main street of the city are integral components of the holiday. But since Portland is a port city, there are also entertainment events on the water: all kinds of water shows and competitions. Here you can also visit a classic rose exhibition, take part in various competitions and costume shows. And the final chord of the holiday is the election of the Queen of Roses, who will then take part in the carnival and Parade of Lights. But if you still have some free time left, then be sure to visit the world-famous rose garden, where the famous Portland roses are grown. Here they are being experimentally selected and developed new varieties that bloom, as a rule, from May to October.

And in October, the Rose Festival finds shelter in Texas, in the city Tyler. Here is a large rose garden, which contains unique exhibits of this flower. The Texas holiday is a little younger than the Portland holiday, but that doesn't make it any worse. At the Rose Festival in Tyler, in addition to colorful flower shows, you can get acquainted with the latest in the field of rose breeding, which also attracts specialists involved in rose breeding for the holidays. The holiday lasts for several days, and in memory of it, most often they buy some special “pink” souvenir here.

Of course, such significant traditions in the cultivation of roses and holding their festivals could not go unnoticed in the country.

Collage: ForumDaily

And in 1986, the fortieth US President Ronald Reagan signed a resolution adopted by the US Congress, which assigned the status of the official flower symbol of the country to the rose. There is no need to even explain why this happened; it is enough to just quote the text of the resolution: “...Americans have always loved the flowers with which God decorates our land. More often than any other flower, we hold roses in our hands as a symbol of life, love, devotion, beauty and eternity. To speak of the love of a man and a woman, of the love of humanity and of God, of the love of one's country, Americans who speak the language of the heart will say it with a rose. We have always cultivated roses in our gardens. Our first president, George Washington, grew roses and named the variety he developed after his mother. This variety of roses is still grown today. The White House boasts the most beautiful Rose Garden. We grow roses in all of our fifty states. We find roses in all our art, music and literature. And we decorate our celebrations and parades with roses...” It’s unlikely that anything else can be added to this. Besides the beautiful legend.

One evening, the prince was walking alone along the alley of his palace park. And I was very surprised to meet a beautiful stranger there. So the two of them walked through the park all night, but at dawn she told him that she needed to leave, because she was a princess who had been turned into a rose by an evil sorcerer. Only for one summer night she becomes a girl again. There is only one way to disenchant it - on the first try, recognize it among thousands of other roses. However, if she makes the wrong choice, she will simply die. The princess disappeared, and the prince, with the first rays of sunshine, went to that part of the park where hundreds of roses grew and immediately found her. As you can imagine, finding it was not difficult. He just knew what he was looking for: the only rose in the garden whose petals had no dew on them. The French writer Antoine Saint-Exupery noted this perfectly: “On your planet,” said the Little Prince, “people grow five thousand roses in one garden and do not find what they are looking for. But what they are looking for can be found in one single rose, in a sip of water... but the eyes are blind. You have to search with your heart."

And in 1986, the US Congress proposed to the vast country a new symbol. Its 327 631 340 residents. It's almost 328 million roses. Now, each of you should just choose the one you like the most. As Saint Exupery said: heart.

This article by ForumDaily author, journalist Leonid Rajewski is part of the “History of American Symbols” series.

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