A Beginner's Guide to Understanding Daisy Symbolism

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Everything you need to know about daisies and their meaning

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Common Meanings

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Historical & Cultural Meanings

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Color Meanings

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Gifting Daisies

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With their bright yellow centers and soft petals, daisies are sure to brighten anyone’s day. They’re more than just pretty flowers, though. Daisies have represented many things across time and cultures, including innocence, childbirth, and new beginnings. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the meaning of daisies, including how the meanings change depending on the color of the petals and in which situations and celebrations you should gift someone a bouquet of daisies.

The Symbolism of Daisies

Daises symbolize purity, innocence, and childhood. They also represent renewal and hope during significant life changes, as well as symbolizing happiness and true love. They’re frequently given to new mothers and newly wed couples to celebrate new beginnings.

Section 1 of 4:

Common Daisy Meanings

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Because we mostly associate daisies with the color white, the flowers often represent innocence and purity. Daises are frequently associated with childhood, not only because of their connection to innocence, but because children have entertained themselves with daisies for centuries by making daisy chains and playing games like “he loves me, he loves me not.”^{[1]XResearch source}
Because of their bright yellow center and wide-open petals, daisies bring a sense of optimism and hope to any room. They frequently represent rebirth and beginnings as a reminder to look on the bright side and know that good things are coming.^{[2]XResearch source}
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Cheerfulness If you’ve ever heard the phrase “fresh as a daisy,” it’s no surprise daisies represent joy and cheer. Due to their bright petals, daisies are commonly associated with happiness, health, and energy.^{[3]XResearch source}
- The daisy’s modern name comes from the Old English name “day’s eye,” called so because the flower resembles an eye when it opens its petals at dawn and closes them at sunset. This, in turn, led to the phrase “fresh as a daisy.”^{[4]XResearch source}
The daisy represents love because it is actually 2 flowers in one. The center eye is made of a cluster of tiny petals from one flower, while the large petals on the outside are another. Together, these flowers make one unit, just like a successful relationship between 2 people.^{[5]XResearch source}

Section 2 of 4:

Historical and Cultural Daisy Meanings

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In Roman mythology, the daisy was linked to metamorphosis and rebirth. According to the myth, a nymph named Belides transformed herself into a daisy to escape the unwanted attention of Vertumnus, the god of seasons and gardens.^{[6]XResearch source}
- The Latin word for daisy, bellis, stems from this myth.
Daisies are sacred to Freya, the goddess of love, fertility, and beauty. Because the daisy was her favorite flower, the Norse people gave it similar connotations. It specifically symbolized motherhood and childbirth.^{[7]XResearch source}
When a child or baby died, the Celtic gods were believed to sprout daisies all over the earth as an attempt to cheer the parents up. This is likely because of their associations with childhood and innocence.^{[8]XResearch source}
This association comes from the fact that daisies often represent innocence, chastity, and humility. These qualities are also associated with the Virgin Mary.^{[9]XResearch source}
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In the Victorian era, daisies represented secrets. The Victorians developed floriography, or the language of flowers, to relay different coded messages depending on the type of flowers they sent and received. Daisies in particular symbolized loyalty and the ability to keep secrets. Someone would send daisies to a person who told them a secret to let them know their secret was safe.^{[10]XResearch source}
- Specific types of daisies also meant different things. For example, the Michaelmas daisy symbolized a farewell, a Gerber daisy represented cheerfulness, and the English daisy symbolized innocence.

Section 3 of 4:

Daisy Color Meanings

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Daisies have different meanings depending on their color. While daises have some overarching associations, like most flowers, they have additional symbolism based on the color of their petals. Here are some examples:^{[11]XResearch source}
- White: purity, innocence
- Red: passion, romance, devotion
- Yellow: friendship, joy, cheer, well wishes
- Pink: platonic love, tenderness, kindness, femininity
- Orange: friendliness, warmth, joy, excitement, healing
- Blue: long-term commitment, trust, honesty, loyalty
- Purple: peace, unity, spontaneity, royalty, pride, apologies

Section 4 of 4:

When to Gift Daisies

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Give daisies to a new mother or on Mother’s Day. Historically, people have associated daisies with childbirth, and it’s still a common practice to gift a bouquet of them to a new mother and baby. Additionally, give daisies to your mother or maternal figure to show them how much you appreciate them and all they’ve done for you. This is commonly done on Mother’s Day, but it’s always nice to surprise your mom, as well!^{[12]XResearch source}
- You can also bring daisies to a baby shower if you won’t see the mother soon after the baby is born.
Known for their connotations of optimism and rebirth, receiving daisies as a gift is sure to brighten anyone’s day. In addition to sending them to someone who is sick or injured, consider sending a daisy bouquet to someone going through significant life changes to let them know you’re thinking about them and that new beginnings are on the horizon.
While anyone is sure to appreciate a lovely bouquet as a birthday gift, daisies are actually the birthflower for the month of April. If you know someone who is fascinated by things like birthstones and Zodiac signs, gifting them their birthflower is sure to let them know you care about them and their interests.^{[13]XResearch source}
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Celebrate a 5th anniversary. Gerbera daisies in particular are the official 5th anniversary flower. The idea is that after 5 years of marriage, a couple’s life together may begin to seem mundane, but like a daisy, there are still many surprises left to discover. Daisies may look simple upon first glance, but their structure and texture are actually incredibly unique, as is the couple’s relationship. These flowers also represent fidelity and eternal love.^{[14]XResearch source}
- Because of their associations with joy and new beginnings, you might also gift daisies to a newlywed couple.