Floral Friday: Forget Me Nots

My week’s entry this week is forget me nots. Taken with my iPhone 5S at my parents garden.

Folklore and legend

In a German legend, God named all the plants when a tiny unnamed one cried out, “Forget-me-not, O Lord!” God replied, “That shall be your name.”^[4] Another legend tells when the Creator thought he had finished giving the flowers their colours, he heard one whisper “Forget me not!” There was nothing left but a very small amount of blue, but the forget-me-not was delighted to wear such a light blue shade.

Henry IV adopted the flower as his symbol during his exile in 1398, and retained the symbol upon his return to England the following year.^[4]

In 15th-century Germany, it was supposed that the wearers of the flower would not be forgotten by their lovers. Legend has it that in medieval times, a knight and his lady were walking along the side of a river. He picked a posy of flowers, but because of the weight of his armour he fell into the river. As he was drowning he threw the posy to his loved one and shouted “forget me not”. It was often worn by ladies as a sign of faithfulness and enduring love.

Remembrance

Prior to becoming the tenth province of Canada in 1949, Newfoundland (then a separate British Dominion) used the forget-me-not as a symbol of remembrance of that nation’s war dead. This practice is still in limited use today, though Newfoundlanders have adopted the Flanders Poppy as well.

Freemasons began using the flower in 1926 as a symbol well known in Germany as message not to forget the poor and desperate. Many other German charities were also using it at this time. In later years, by a handful of Masons, it was a means of recognition in place of the square and compass design. This was done across Nazi occupied Europe to avoid any danger of being singled out and persecuted. The symbol of the forget-me-not in modern Masonry has become more prevalent and exaggerated claims about the use of the symbol are often made in order to promote sales of bumper stickers of the symbol.^[5] Today it is an interchangeable symbol with Freemasonry and some also use the forget-me-not to remember those masons who were victimized by the Nazi regime.^[6] In English Freemasonry it is more commonly now worn to remember those that have died as a symbol that you may be gone but not forgotten.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the info.  I need to learn more about the flowers I take photos of.  I have so many photos of lovely flowers and I haven’t a clue what they are.

http://nowathome.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/floral-friday-succulents/

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