A Complete Analysis of the Floral Language, Symbolism and Legendary Stories of the Pansy
The pansy is a common wildflower species in Europe, a biennial or perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Viola in the family Violaceae, also known as cat's face, butterfly flower, and face flower, named because each flower usually has three colors: purple, white and yellow. In courtyard landscaping it is often planted in flower beds, and can be used for carpet flower beds and clump flower beds, with extremely high ornamental value. Let's take a look together at the floral language and legends of the pansy!
The Floral Language of the Pansy
The floral language of the pansy is thoughtfulness, happiness, and "please miss me." The red pansy is a beautiful red flower, and its floral language is “thought and longing”, with the attribute of fire. The yellow pansy has yellow petals, and its floral language is “mixed joy and sorrow”, with the attribute of earth. The purple pansy has purple petals, and its floral language is “silent without a word” and “unconditional love”, with the attribute of darkness. The floral language of the large pansy is bondage.
The Myth of the Pansy
Long, long ago, it is said that the pansy was pure white, like the clouds in the sky. The mischievous Cupid, god of love, was a little rascal, and the bow and arrow in his hands possessed the magic power of love: whoever it struck would involuntarily fall in love with the first person they saw. Unfortunately, the god of love was both mischievous and inaccurate with his arrows, so love stories in the mortal world often went wrong.
One day, the god of love found another unlucky fellow and prepared to shoot an arrow at him. Who would have thought that just as the arrow was released, a gust of wind suddenly blew over, and the arrow actually struck a white pansy. Blood and tears flowed from the heart of the white pansy, and after this blood and these tears dried, they could never be wiped away again. From then on the white viola flower became today's pansy. This is the origin of the pansy in mythological stories.
The Legend of the Pansy
In the kingdom of heaven there was a very, very large garden. Every year when spring came and flowers bloomed, many beautiful and rare flowers and plants would grow in the garden, drawing the gods to come and admire the flowers. That year, the time for flower viewing arrived again. On this morning, Venus, the goddess of beauty, rose early, washed and dressed herself carefully, put on garments of fine silk and satin, wore dazzling jewelry, and then brought along her precious son Cupid, the god of love, arriving at the garden in high spirits.
By this time, many gods had already arrived. Everyone had gathered in a circle, and no one knew what they were so engrossed in admiring, for even when the beautiful Venus arrived, no one bothered to greet her. Feeling slighted, Venus was a little displeased. In the past, wherever she went, she would draw exclamations of praise from others. What was going on today? She pushed her way in to look, and it turned out everyone was busy admiring the pansies. The pansies were blooming very luxuriantly and were especially eye-catching, and all the gods were full of praise.
Venus had always been very jealous. She always believed that the most beautiful in heaven and on earth should of course be the goddess of beauty, and she feared above all that others might say something was more beautiful than she was. So she asked her son Cupid: “Good son, take a careful look for me. Between these pansies and your mother, who exactly is more beautiful?” Unexpectedly, the innocent Cupid blurted out without even thinking: “Of course the pansies are!” The gods all laughed heartily at this, and as soon as Venus heard it, she flew into a rage, furious beyond measure, and did not speak to anyone again for the whole day.
When it grew dark, the gods went home one after another. Venus walked up to the pansies, looked them over from left and right, and the more she looked the angrier she became, so she raised a leather whip and lashed the pansies, saying bitterly as she struck: “I'll teach you to be more beautiful than me! I'll teach you to be more beautiful than me!” She only stopped when she was tired from beating them. Because it was dark, Venus could not see clearly either, and she thought to herself that now the pansies must surely die, so she went home smugly. Unexpectedly, the pansy had quite tenacious vitality; although badly wounded, it did not die, and still lived on strong. It was only that because it had been whipped, its face was bruised blue and purple, leaving marks of varying shades, and it became a “calico face.”
The following spring, the pansy bloomed again. It had changed from its original single color into the “pansy” with several colors on one flower. But what no one expected was that this “calico face” made it look even more beautiful and moving than before, and at the flower-viewing gathering it won even more praise from the gods. It turns out that the brown pattern on the pansy was left when an angel came to the mortal world and kissed it three times, and some also say that when the angel kissed the pansy flower, her face was imprinted on the petals. Therefore, everyone who sees a pansy will have a happy ending.