Jasmine is widely known as the flower of eternal love and beauty. With its gentle white flowers and calming scent, it’s certainly a popular figure among florists, too. Because of its white blossoms, jasmine is also a symbol of purity. In some parts of the world, it is thought to bring good luck.
Historically, the jasmine flower has often been connected to godlike qualities. The word jasmine derives from the Persian name “Yasmine”, which translates to “gift from God”.
It’s also a symbol of warmth, positivity, and sensuality. The symbolism of jasmine is usually a positive one, although there are some surprising meanings of jasmine that you might not have known about. Read on to find out more!
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The Symbolism of Jasmine
Here’s what the jasmine flower symbolizes.
1. Love
Jasmine is the flower of love. Traditionally, it is widely used as a flower for weddings and anniversaries in different parts of the world. As such, it’s widely prevalent in Indonesia and the Philippines, and many other areas around the world.
The fragrance of the flower is sweet and pleasant, and the appearance also communicates love. When we think about the jasmine flower, we mainly tend to think about things connected to love and beauty.
Jasmines can also be a great gift for someone you hold dear and close to your heart. There’s an interesting story about a Tuscan man who obtained the jasmine flower from Persian dealers. This man loved the flower so much he didn’t want to part with it – he didn’t even want to show it to others.
You’ll notice that love also makes an appearance in orchid symbolism and lily symbolism.
2. Beauty
Jasmine itself is a beautiful flower. With its gentle white blossoms and pleasant smell, we connect them to everything that’s beautiful in the world. In any color, this flower is so beautiful that almost every gardener would love to have it.
Due to its beauty, the jasmine flower is also present in both Greek and Roman mythology as a symbol of beauty. In Greek mythology, it was connected to Aphrodite, who was the goddess of beauty and love. In Roman mythology, it was close to Venus, who was the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite.
This symbolism has most likely developed due to the appearance of jasmine. With its sensual style, it has appealed to many as a symbol of beauty.
3. Purity and Motherhood
Because of its white appearance, jasmine is also a symbol of purity. As such, it’s commonly present in various ceremonies celebrating purity, such as weddings and baptisms.
The gentle appearance of the jasmine flower makes us think about something pure. At the same time, it also celebrates motherly purity and beauty, so it’s a great gift to give to your mother to celebrate this.
In Thailand, jasmines are believed to be the symbols of motherhood and also the purity of motherhood.
4. Divinity
Perhaps we could go even as far as to say that jasmine flowers have divine qualities and that they represent everything godly in this world. Because of its underlying symbolism and appearance, this flower has long been deemed as a flower of God.
In Persian culture where the jasmine flower stems from, the word “Yasmin” means a “gift from God”. It was named like that because Persians believed it was sent from God himself as a gift of purity and beauty to humanity.
In many ways, jasmine connects many of the symbolisms of god – purity, beauty, innocence, warmth, and good luck.
5. Warmth and Sensitivity
Jasmines are warm and sensitive flowers that they communicate with their pleasant smells and appearance. It’s hard to dislike this flower and find something negative about it.
It’s a sweet flower that brings warmth and a positive feeling wherever it might find itself. It also brings nice flavors and smells to its surroundings, which can liven up the room in which they find themselves.
6. Good Luck
Interestingly, jasmine flowers are thought to be the bringers of good luck in some communities. In some parts of the world, people would bring jasmines into their homes because they were believed to bring good luck if they were in their vicinity.
And because of this quality, some even decide to wear jasmines in their pockets as they go along their lives, believing that the flower is watching over them and giving them good luck.
7. Culture
Another interesting meaning of the jasmine flower is that it’s a flower of culture. Because of this, it is a symbol of many areas and countries all over the world.
For example, the city of Damascus in Syria is also called the City of Jasmine. In Pakistan, the jasmine flower is believed to be the national flower. It’s quite similar in Indonesia, too. It’s also the national flower of the Philippines.
The Symbolism of Jasmine in Various Countries and Cultures
As we’ve already seen, the jasmine flower is highly significant in different countries and cultures. In China, it’s widely used for jasmine tea. However, in Pakistan, it plays a highly symbolic role.
In China
The main use of jasmine in China is for making jasmine tea. Often, this tea has a base of green or white tea, although the main scent of the tea is that of jasmine. It’s the most widely spread type of tea in China.
Because of that, jasmine is widely produced in many areas of China. The main reason behind this popularity is, of course, the pleasant scent and taste of this tea. It has a very sweet and highly fragrant taste, making it the most popular type of tea in China.
Naturally, jasmine is found in elevated parts of China – especially in the province of Fujian, where it has become a symbol of the province. Jasmine tea is also believed to have beneficial effects on our immunity system, boosting the protection of membranes of red blood cells, thanks to the high contents of all kinds of antioxidants in jasmine.
In Pakistan
Jasminum Officinale has become a national symbol of Pakistan, and the recognized national flower of this country. These flowers are widespread especially in the Indus Valley in the Pakistan Punjab area.
This is why it has become a widely recognized symbol of Pakistan. The Pakistani people are greatly attached to this flower and are proud of it. Because of this popularity, the jasmine flower is grown all over Pakistan and not only in the Punjab area.
In Iran (Persian Culture)
In the Persian culture of centuries past, the jasmine flower had a very special place in the hearts of Persian people. This flower is quite common in this part of the world, but the Persians still believed it was a special type of flower for them.
They thought the jasmine flower was sent directly by God himself. It might be because of the beautiful appearance, or because of the lovely smells. Either way, Persians were so in love with this flower that they even gave it a name.
It was named after the name “Yazmin”, which means “a gift from God”. The name has stuck and it’s also the name we use for this flower even today.
The Symbolisms of Colors of Jasmine
Jasmine can come in a variety of different colors. Although the main color is white, which represents purity and innocence, there’s a whole host of color palettes that jasmine can come in.
White Jasmine
These are by far the most common and also popular jasmines that are available in the world. White jasmines are also popular in art and in literature, which just tells us about their highly symbolic nature.
White jasmines represent innocence, purity, and friendliness, but also beauty. This is partly because of the white color itself, but also because of the appearance and the innocent scents that this flower exudes.
Blue Jasmine
Blue jasmines represent honesty. Because of this, they make for a great gift that you can give to a close friend of yours or a person that you trust deeply and believe is always honest and truthful with you.
Pink Jasmine
Pink jasmines are really more of a blend between pink and white, creating this pale-pink color that we can observe with these flowers. As such, pink jasmines represent love and beauty, so you can easily gift them to your lover.
Orange and Yellow Jasmine
Orange and yellow jasmines have similar meanings. They are thought to bring joy and happiness, while orange jasmines are a bit stronger and represent passion, while yellow jasmines represent true friendship and trust.
Read Also: A list of friendship metaphors.
Purple Jasmines
Purple jasmines are quite rare, so they’ve always been close to the royal families and higher classes. That’s also partly connected to the purple color itself, which has always been the color of the higher classes.
Conclusion
Jasmines are beautiful and sensual flowers that represent a variety of different things. Their appearance alone has drawn a lot of different meanings. The symbolism of jasmine is thus often connected to beauty, innocence, and purity, as well as love and beauty.
