Tulips are the popular flowers loved by many people, but most of them don’t know the country of origin and tradition about tulips.

Although tulips are usually associated to the Netherlands, the origin is said from Central Asia to Mediterranean littoral. In palaces and harems of Turkish Empire, a lot of tulips had been planted.

They were translated to Europe in late sixteen century.

Their lovely looks had attracted Dutch and tulips had spread throughout the world fast. The historically famous Tulip mania took place, and the government had regulated tulips as the target of speculation.

While tulips had been spreading, legends about them had been originated around the world. I’ll introduce the legends about love with meanings of tulips this time. Let’s look dramatic stories.

Fantastic meanings☆7 legends of tulips about love

“Philanthropy”…… Dutch tradition

This is tradition that has been told in the Netherlands.

There is a beautiful girl and three knights propose to her. Each of them appeals her by giving gifts. One gives a crown indicating with fame. One gives a sword indicating with power. One gives gold indicating with property.

The kind girl cannot choose one from them and ask a queen of flowers, “Please change me to a flower.” She becomes a flower. The crown is to a flower, the sword is to a leaf, the gold is changes to a bulb.

Tulips have the flower meaning of philanthropy and it reminds me the story of the girl who cannot decide one from the three knights.

“Seduction”……Greek myths

One of Greek myths is about tulips.

One upon a time, there is a pretty girl named Tulip. One day, the god of autumn, Weiltsum falls in love with her. He keeps approaching her, but she does not accept him.

After a while, he finds her picking flowers and approaches again. She is tired of him and asks the god of virginity, Artemis, to change her to a tulip.

The flower meaning of tulips, seduction comes from this story.

“True love”……Turkish legend

This is a story about Turkey, one of the origins.

There are a man and woman called Farhad and Shirin. Farhad loves Shirin, but she
dies while she is trying hard to dig a well because the well of their village is dried out.

Although she succeeds getting water, Farhad throws himself off a cliff due to her death.
Red tulips are born at his red blood spread out from his body.

Red tulips have the meaning of true love. Red color of the flowers makes me feel
Farhad’s passion for Shirin.

“Eternal love”…..Persian legend

It is very similar to the Turkish legend.

In the story that has been told in Persia, a young man, Farhad hears death of his
beautiful lover, Shirin. He is deeply grief and jumps in a cliff to his death.

However, she is not dead. Farhad dies because of being fooled. Tulips bloom from his
blood.

Red tulips also have the meaning of eternal love. In Persia, people give red tulips when they propose.

“Immortal love”……The Old Testament’s Song of Solomon

In the Old Testament’s Song of Solomon, Sharon’s rose is said as the original kind of tulips.

In the Old Testament, it is written “I am a rose of Sharon, a wild lily.” The Song of Solomon sings love affairs rarely in Testament.

This is considered that they use love affairs as a metaphor of relation between Christian societies. A girl whose heart is lifted in front of her lover compares herself with a flower as Sharon’s rose.

Purple tulips have the flower meaning of immortal love. By mature purple tulips, why don’t you tell your sincere feeling?

“The awakening of love”…….Andersen’s fairy tale

One of Andersen’s fairy tales, Thumbelina is a story about a girl who is born from a tulip flower.

There is a thumb-sized girl who is born from a tulip. She is kidnapped and asked to marry by a toad, chafer, mole.

In the mole’s house, she saves a dying swallow, and the swallow takes her to the kingdom of flowers. She gets married with the prince of the kingdom and lives happily ever after.

The flower meaning of pink tulips is the awakening of love. Pink tulips remind me the lovely little girl.

“Dramatic reunion”………The novel “Black tulips”

“Black tulips” is a novel of French writer, Alexandre Dumas.

Cormelius who devotes his life on cultivation of tulips succeeds making black tulips awarded enormous amount of prize. However, his neighbor, Boxtel envies tricks him into being arrested. Cormelius entrusts his bulbs of black tulips to a girl of prison guard. This story make readers excited about love between two and worried about the bulbs.

Black tulips have the meaning of dramatic reunion. This is associated to the dramatic story.

How did you like it?

Tulips have various legends and stories, so it is fantastic to know these with the flower meanings. I told mainly stories about love, but these are very dramatic. I hope these to be a chance to like tulips more.

Tulips have a wide variety of cultivars, colors and shapes.

Why don’t you find your favorite tulips and give them with the flower meaning? It is hard to choose one from too many meanings about love.

Summary

Fantastic meanings☆7 legends of tulips about love

“Philanthropy”…… Dutch tradition
“Seduction”…….Know Greek myths
“True love”……Turkish legend
“Eternal love”…..Persian legend
“Immortal love”……The Old Testament’s Song of Solomon
“The awakening of love”…….Andersen’s fairy tale
“Dramatic reunion”……The novel “Black tulips”