What it doesn't mean
Most of Greenaway's carnation meanings are unhappy ones: heartbreak for deep red, refusal for striped, disdain for yellow.
It was named after the carnations a restaurant worker, Celeste Caeiro, handed to soldiers, which others then placed in the soldiers' guns and uniforms.
What it really means
The carnation is one of the moodier flowers in the Victorian language of flowers. Kate Greenaway's illustrated Language of Flowers, published by Routledge in 1884 and free to read on Project Gutenberg, lists three carnations, and none of them is cheerful. The deep red carnation is "Alas! for my poor heart". The striped one is "Refusal". The yellow one is "Disdain". Under "Pink", the old family name for these flowers, she adds a kinder entry: "Pink, Carnation" is "Woman's love".
Like most flower meanings, these were not shared by everyone. The historian Beverly Seaton, in The Language of Flowers: A History, shows that the meanings changed from book to book and country to country. Greenaway's list is one well-known English version, not an official one.
The carnation's strongest modern meanings come from two twentieth-century stories. In the United States, Anna Jarvis organised the first official Mother's Day service in 1908 and chose her late mother's favourite flower, the white carnation, as its emblem. Florists later promoted a custom that churches took up: a pink carnation for a mother who is living, a white one for a mother who has died.
In Portugal the carnation means freedom. On 25 April 1974 a military coup ended the dictatorship with almost no shots fired. A restaurant worker, Celeste Caeiro, gave carnations to soldiers in the street; others followed, and the flowers ended up in the muzzles of the soldiers' guns. It has been the Carnation Revolution ever since.
Where it comes from
French — flesh colour (one theory)
English — crowning (another theory)
First recorded in the 1530s; the origin is uncertain. It may come from French carnation, 'flesh colour', from Latin caro, 'flesh', or be a corruption of 'coronation', from the flower's use in garlands or its crown-like petals.
- 1884
Greenaway lists the carnation by colour: deep red 'Alas! for my poor heart', striped 'Refusal', yellow 'Disdain'; she also gives 'Pink, Carnation' as 'Woman's love'.
- 1908
Anna Jarvis organises the first official Mother's Day service and chooses her late mother's favourite flower, the white carnation, as its emblem.
- 1974
Portugal's Carnation Revolution: on 25 April, people hand carnations to soldiers, who put them in their rifles.
In real life
- A deep red carnation, in Greenaway's list, is a sigh: 'Alas! for my poor heart'.
- Her church still hands out carnations on Mother's Day, coloured for living mothers and white for those who have died.
- In Portugal, 25 April 1974 is remembered as the Carnation Revolution, after the flowers in the soldiers' rifles.
Questions
Q01What does a carnation mean?
It depends on the colour. In Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers (1884), deep red is 'Alas! for my poor heart', striped is 'Refusal' and yellow is 'Disdain'. Today white carnations are linked with Mother's Day.
Q02Why are carnations linked with Mother's Day?
Anna Jarvis, who began the American Mother's Day in 1908, chose her late mother's favourite flower, the white carnation, as its emblem. Florists later promoted a custom, taken up in churches, of wearing a pink carnation for a living mother and a white one for a mother who has died.
Q03What was the Carnation Revolution?
The almost bloodless overthrow of Portugal's dictatorship on 25 April 1974. It is named after the carnations that people gave to the soldiers, who put them in the muzzles of their guns.
Q04Where does the word carnation come from?
Nobody is sure. It first appears in English in the 1530s and may come from French carnation, 'flesh colour', or be a corruption of 'coronation'.
Sources
- Kate Greenaway (illustrator), Language of Flowers (Routledge, 1884) — Project Gutenberg.
- carnation (etymology) — Online Etymology Dictionary.
- Mother's Day (United States) — Wikipedia.
- Carnation Revolution — Wikipedia.
- Beverly Seaton, The Language of Flowers: A History — University of Virginia Press.