The Language of Four-Leaf Clovers and Legendary Stories Explained

The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of plants in the Trifolium genus. Only about one in five thousand clovers has four leaves. In the West, finding a four-leaf clover is considered a sign of good luck, while in Japan it is believed to bring happiness, so it is also called the lucky clover. These meanings are attributed to it because of its extreme rarity. Let us now take a look at the language and legends of the four-leaf clover!

The Language of the Four-Leaf Clover

Happiness, waiting for love to appear, representing love, hope, faith and luck.

The Meanings of the Four-Leaf Clover

1. The first leaf represents hope, the second leaf represents faith, the third leaf represents love, and the fourth leaf represents luck. This interpretation matches the Christian ideas of hope, faith and charity.

2. The first leaf represents true love, the second leaf represents health, the third leaf represents fame, and the fourth leaf represents wealth.

Legends of the Four-Leaf Clover

1. In legend, the four-leaf clover was brought to earth from the Garden of Eden by Eve, and its flower language is happiness. Usually it has only 3 leaves; the probability of finding a 4-leaf clover is very small, the probability of finding a 5-leaf clover is average, and the probability of finding a 6-leaf clover is only one in one hundred thousand. It implies receiving happiness and the favor of heaven.

2. There is also a very beautiful legend about the four-leaf clover! Once upon a time there was a couple who truly loved each other and lived together in a beautiful peach grove. But because of a very small matter, they had a quarrel and neither was willing to give in. Finally one day, the goddess of love could not bear it anymore. She floated down to the peach grove where they lived and quietly told a lie: she told them that each of them would face disaster, and only by finding that four-leaf clover in the deepest part of the peach grove could they be saved. After hearing this, they pretended to be completely indifferent, but in their hearts they still worried about each other. That night it rained, a heavy rainstorm, but they still secretly went to the deepest part of the peach grove to look for the four-leaf clover for each other. When they learned how much the other cared, they were both deeply moved and decided to let the four-leaf clover witness their love. The goddess of love smiled…… This was a joke she played, because she did not want happiness to come too easily. Only those who care for each other and cherish each other deserve to have happiness!

3. It is also said that the name lucky clover comes from Napoleon. Once, while leading his troops across a grassland, he discovered a four-leaf clover and found it very strange. When he bent down to pick it, he happened to avoid a bullet fired at him and escaped disaster. From then on he called the four-leaf clover the lucky clover. As the story spread, the four-leaf clover has been internationally recognized as a symbol of good luck. Its four leaves represent love, health, fame and wealth, and possessing it will bring you good luck.

4. The lucky clover first originated in Europe, and was especially popular in England and Ireland. To this day, it has become a folk tradition in Western countries. Children take pleasure in searching for four-leaf clovers on grasslands, and every year in March at the St. Bede's Day held in New York, people wear green clothing and carry mascots——four-leaf lucky clover ornaments——to parade.

5. Irish folklore says that the four-leaf clover can bring good luck and is Ireland's most famous national symbol. At traditional Irish weddings, the bride's bouquet and the groom's boutonniere must both include the lucky clover. The lucky clover is considered an indispensable third person at the wedding.

6. In Switzerland, every Christmas, real potted four-leaf lucky clovers can be bought in shopping malls. The lucky clover is considered the most creative Christmas gift. Give the lucky clover's good fortune to a relative, and the recipient will from then on begin a happy life and have everything go smoothly in this world.

7. Germany discovered the real four-leaf clover in 1190. The lucky clover is regarded as a symbol of freedom, unity, solidarity and peace. They believe that nothing bad can happen if they possess a four-leaf clover.