Throughout history, flowers have communicated messages and conveyed meaning. During the 19th century, writers in England, France, and the U.S. created a “language” of flowers and published dictionaries with flowers’ sentimental meanings. The rose embodied love and beauty; the lily symbolized purity and sweetness; the daisy signified innocence.

Similarly, a rich bouquet of flowers found throughout Cornell’s Botanic Gardens hold meaning for the LGBTQ+ community, which has long embraced the six colors of the rainbow: red for life; orange for healing; yellow for sunlight; green for nature; indigo for serenity; violet for spirit. 

Perhaps the most well-known garden hue of LGTBTQ+ representation and allyship is lavender.

In the 1950s, the U.S. government’s attempts to identify and fire homosexual employees was dubbed the “Lavender Scare.” Today, many universities celebrate LGBTQ+ students’ accomplishments with “lavender graduation” parties.

Excerpted from a tour developed by Jakara Zellner ’23 and Annika Dahlin ’23, co-leaders in the Learning by Leading program at Cornell Botanic Gardens