Violets mainly stand for modesty and humility, faithful love, and remembrance. The flower is small, grows low to the ground, and blooms only briefly, and those traits shaped its best-known meaning: a quiet flower that doesn’t show off. Some of its strongest meanings came from people using it as a secret sign, among exiled Napoleon’s supporters and among women who loved women.
What Violets Symbolize at a Glance
- Modesty and humility: from the flower’s quiet color and low growth.1The Frame Blog. Fruit, flowers, foliage: the symbolism of Renaissance frames
- Loyalty and faithfulness.2Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden
- Pure love: long tied to the Virgin Mary.3The Frame Blog. Fruit, flowers, foliage: the symbolism of Renaissance frames
- Beauty, elegance and hope.4Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden
- Death and remembrance: because the bloom is so short-lived.5Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden
- Love between women: a meaning that dates back to the poet Sappho.6Natural History Museum. Four flowers that have become queer symbols
The sweet violet blooms in spring and rarely survives summer heat.7Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden That brief life made it a natural emblem of things that pass, like youth and life itself.8Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden It is also the February birth flower, for which modesty and faithfulness are the usual reading.
The plant’s appearance did most of the work. The flower heads nod like a bowed head, which suggests humility. Growing close to the ground reads as lowliness rather than show. A sweet scent coming from such a tiny flower hints at hidden worth. And because violets bloom in early spring, they came to signal hope and new beginnings.
When you choose violets as a gift, the meaning you intend matters, because the same bouquet can say devotion to a partner or sympathy to a grieving friend. A short note or card makes clear which one you mean.
What Violet Colors Mean
The Victorians used flowers to send coded messages. In that Victorian language of flowers, a white violet stood for innocence.9Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Shakespeare’s Favourite Flowers: The Violet A purple violet said something different: that the giver’s thoughts were occupied with love.10Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Shakespeare’s Favourite Flowers: The Violet
The blue violet has official standing too. It is the state flower of Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Wisconsin, and the provincial flower of New Brunswick, Canada.11Farmers’ Almanac. February Birth Flower: Violet (Plus the Primrose Alternative)
Color can even change on a single plant. In one horned violet variety, sold as ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,’ the flowers open white and turn lavender, then purple.12Plant Science. Differential expression of three key anthocyanin biosynthetic genes in a color-changing flower, Viola cornuta cv. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow The flower builds up more purple pigment as it ages.13Plant Science. Floral color change in Viola cornuta L. (Violaceae): a model system to study regulation of anthocyanin production
These meanings translate easily into gifts today. White violets suit christenings, weddings, and gestures of sincere affection. Purple ones suit romantic gifts and anniversaries. A mixed bouquet can blend innocence and love without sending a single fixed message.
Modesty, Humility and the Virgin Mary
The 12th-century monk St Bernard called Mary ‘the violet of humility, the lily of chastity, the rose of charity.’14Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia. The Lily and the Rose: Symbols of the Blessed Virgin Mary The violet thus became one of Mary’s three signature flowers. Painters in illuminated prayer books then put violets in the borders to signal pure love tied to Mary.15The Frame Blog. Fruit, flowers, foliage: the symbolism of Renaissance frames A violet placed at or near the top of the page meant ‘the triumph of humility.’16The Frame Blog. Fruit, flowers, foliage: the symbolism of Renaissance frames
To spot violets in old religious art, look in the margins and borders of medieval books, not just the main scene. Violets near Mary or her parents signal purity and humility. They are often painted beside other Marian flowers like lilies and roses. Flower meanings in this period were not perfectly fixed, so a violet is best read as a likely signal of humility or purity, not a guaranteed code in every manuscript.
Modesty showed up in grief as well. Ancient Greeks and Romans covered children’s graves with violets because the flowers stood for modesty.17Icy Sedgwick. Violets Are Blue: The Folklore Of February’s Birth Flower
Why Violets Are a Lesbian Symbol
The poet Sappho lived on the Greek island of Lesbos in the 6th century BCE.18Natural History Museum. Four flowers that have become queer symbols Her name gave us the word sapphic and her island gave us lesbian, both meaning love between women.19Natural History Museum. Four flowers that have become queer symbols Her surviving fragments describe crowns of violets placed around a girl’s soft neck.20University of Washington Botanic Gardens. Queer Botany: The Sapphic Violet That means the link between violets and love between women may be over 2,500 years old.21Natural History Museum. Four flowers that have become queer symbols
Only fragments of Sappho’s poetry survive, so we cannot know how she herself meant the violet images. Violets in her lines were part of ordinary Greek imagery for garlands and beauty.
In the late 1800s writers began celebrating Sappho as a lesbian forerunner, with the violet as her emblem.22Natural History Museum. Four flowers that have become queer symbols Then, in early-1900s Paris, lesbian women who studied her work wore violets on their clothes.23ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. Petals and Pride: A Botanical History of Queer Expression When love between women could not be stated openly, a flower could say it safely. Wearing violets let women recognize each other without words, while to outsiders the same sign read as harmless decoration.
In the 1920s play The Captive, one woman sends another a bouquet of violets as a romantic gesture.24University of Washington Botanic Gardens. Queer Botany: The Sapphic Violet Sources date the play to 1926 or 1927 because it opened in different cities. The public uproar was so great that police and protesters shut down the final performance in France.25University of Washington Botanic Gardens. Queer Botany: The Sapphic Violet In the US, violets became known as ‘the lesbian flower’ and florists’ sales crashed.26University of Washington Botanic Gardens. Queer Botany: The Sapphic Violet
Supporters answered by wearing violets pinned to their lapels to show solidarity.27University of Washington Botanic Gardens. Queer Botany: The Sapphic Violet
Violets and the color violet still appear in lesbian and queer pride imagery. A violet tattoo or gift can honor this history deliberately.
Violets in Greek Myth and Shakespeare
Persephone was said to be picking violets when Hades carried her off to the underworld.28Icy Sedgwick. Violets Are Blue: The Folklore Of February’s Birth Flower She was gathering flowers in spring when she was taken, so the violet appears at the moment of a young girl’s sudden loss. Her story is also a seasonal one, since she returns each spring, which fits a flower that comes back early after winter.
Violets were also the emblem of Athens, given to the city’s founder Ion by water nymphs as a sign of favor.29Icy Sedgwick. Violets Are Blue: The Folklore Of February’s Birth Flower Legend says violets sprang up wherever Orpheus laid down his lyre.30Icy Sedgwick. Violets Are Blue: The Folklore Of February’s Birth Flower
Violets were common in Shakespeare’s England, and they appear in twelve of his plays and two sonnets.31Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden In King John, perfuming a violet is a picture of wasteful excess.32Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden The same speech, which also mentions painting the lily, is the source of the misquoted saying ‘gild the lily.’ In Twelfth Night, Orsino compares the violet’s short life to fleeting music.33Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden For Shakespeare’s audience, violets meant natural beauty and how quickly it fades.
The most moving use is in Hamlet, where Ophelia says her violets withered when her father died.34Friends of Shakespeare Garden. Violet — Friends of Shakespeare Garden In her madness she hands out flowers, each with a meaning her listeners would have recognized. The image joins faithfulness and loss: what was faithful and fresh died with him.
Napoleon and the Violet as a Secret Code
Violets were tied to Napoleon and his wife Joséphine.35Star of Nature. Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata) in History: A Symbol of Joséphine and Napoleon Bonaparte After Joséphine died, the violet became his followers’ emblem of loyalty.36Star of Nature. Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata) in History: A Symbol of Joséphine and Napoleon Bonaparte After his exile, it was a secret sign across France and as far as Lake Geneva.37Shannon Selin. Symbols of Napoleon: The Violet
The code worked through a single question: ‘Do you like violets?’ Asking it meant asking whether the person wanted the emperor back.38nineteenteen.blogspot.com. Corporal Violet A yes meant loyalty to Napoleon, and a no meant support for the restored Bourbon kings.39nineteenteen.blogspot.com. Corporal Violet The question sounded innocent, so asking it risked little, while the answer quietly revealed the other person’s politics. Someone who shared the loyalty could answer in kind, and both were confirmed as supporters without anything incriminating being said.
The violet suited the cause for several reasons. Violets bloom in spring, and his followers hoped for his return like a flower coming back. Faithfulness was already a violet meaning, so it fit political loyalty. And a common wildflower was easy to carry and easy to deny.
Violets in Medicine, Perfume and Food
The sweet violet is the best known of all violets for its use in traditional medicine.40PubMed Central. Sweet Violet (Viola odorata L.): Botanical, Horticultural, Pharmacological, and Economic Aspects Traditional medicine uses the whole plant, while perfume and cosmetics mainly use the flowers.41PubMed Central. Sweet Violet (Viola odorata L.): Botanical, Horticultural, Pharmacological, and Economic Aspects Traditional Iranian medicine applies violet oil to the skin for itching, hives and burns.42Complementary Medicine Journal. A Review of the Therapeutic Effects of Viola Odorata Plant in Traditional Iranian Medicine and Modern Medicine
Traditional use is not proof that it works, so check with a doctor before using violet as treatment. Burns, hives and persistent itching can have causes needing proper care, so see a clinician for them rather than relying on a folk remedy.
The violet’s scent comes largely from compounds called ionones.43PubMed Central. Ionone Is More than a Violet’s Fragrance: A Review Some people find the scent fades quickly, because ionones can briefly tire the nose’s scent receptors. Many violet perfumes today use lab-made ionones rather than flowers.
Violets are also eaten. Demand for them as edible flowers has grown with interest in distinctive, healthy foods, but safety information for growing violets as food is still limited.44Agro Productividad. From Garden to Table: Viola spp., Ornamental and Edible Flowers
In the kitchen, candied violets are a traditional cake decoration, and fresh flowers can garnish salads and desserts. If you want to eat them, grow your own unsprayed plants. Make sure you have a true violet, since many flowers share the name.
How Violets Spread in the Wild
Sweet violet seeds carry a small fatty attachment that ants eat.45Functional Ecology. Myrmecochorous plants use chemical mimicry to cheat seed‐dispersing ants A seed ripens with that attachment, and a foraging ant finds it and carries it back to the nest. In the nest the ants eat the fatty part and discard the seed, often in a waste area or tunnel.46Functional Ecology. Myrmecochorous plants use chemical mimicry to cheat seed‐dispersing ants The seed ends up in a safer spot with fewer seed-eaters and more nutrients.47The Journal of Ecology. Myrmecochory in Viola: Dynamics of Seed-Ant Interactions in Some West Virginia Species The ants get food and the plant gets moved, which is why this is described as a partnership.
Many violets also make small closed flowers that never open and pollinate themselves.48PubMed Central. Expression variation of Viola APETALA3 orthologous genes is correlated with chasmogamous and cleistogamous flower development That is why a violet can set seed even when you never saw it bloom.
For gardeners, this explains why violets turn up in cracks or at lawn edges you never planted: ants often put them there. Their spreading habit makes them good ground cover but sometimes a lawn weed.