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“Floral alphabet” can mean an alphabet made of flower shapes, but it also describes a historical tradition that paired plant names with symbolic meanings. A cataloged 1849 book, The language of flowers, and alphabet of floral emblems, makes that second meaning explicit: it presents plant names and emblems alongside symbolic meanings. This article focuses on that historical flower-language tradition, not modern floral lettering.
What does “floral alphabet” mean?
In the historical sense, a floral alphabet is a reference that associates flowers or other plants with symbolic meanings. The broader practice is called floriography. It became widely known through books that offered readers vocabularies for interpreting flowers and arranging them into symbolic bouquets.
The National Diet Library of Japan catalogs an 1849 London volume titled The language of flowers, and alphabet of floral emblems. Its entries pair plant names with symbolic meanings and botanical illustrations, making it a documented example of a book that joined flower symbolism with an alphabetic reference. National Diet Library of Japan catalog.
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Early nineteenth-century books
Flower-meaning books gained popularity in France in the early nineteenth century. The Royal Horticultural Society identifies Charlotte de la Tour’s Le langage des fleurs, first published in 1819, as an influential early example; it set out about 300 meanings. The book helped establish the idea that flowers could be read as a vocabulary for sentiments. Royal Horticultural Society: The language of flowers.
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The Victorian-era fashion
The Royal Horticultural Society dates the fashion for coded bouquets in Britain and America to the 1820s through the 1880s. Flower vocabularies could attach positive sentiments such as friendship, fidelity, devotion, and love to plants, as well as negative ones such as anger, contempt, and indifference. Language Portal of Canada: The language of flowers.
Flower meanings were not universal
There was no single, timeless dictionary that assigned one definitive meaning to every flower. Meanings differed from book to book and across countries and cultures. An interpretation may also depend on the particular plant or flower variety, its color, and any arrangement details specified by the source. Beverly Seaton’s history, as described by the University of Virginia Press, emphasizes these variations. University of Virginia Press: The language of flowers.
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To assess a claimed meaning, identify the sourcebook and its publication date, then check the place or cultural tradition it represents and the exact flower and color. Treat the result as a convention documented in that source, not as a universal code that every recipient would have understood.
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Did people really communicate through bouquets?
Printed flower-language books are well documented; how often people used bouquets as an everyday communication system is less certain. The Language Portal of Canada cautions: “It is unclear whether Victorians actually used the language of flowers to create bouquets expressing their feelings.” The books show that readers could encounter and interpret such symbolism, but they do not establish how commonly people exchanged deliberately coded bouquets in ordinary life. Language Portal of Canada.
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Where to explore historical flower meanings
Cornell University Library’s Language of Flowers collection comprises 92 historical texts, according to its 2025 collection overview. Spanning the early nineteenth century through the 1950s, the collection documents how floral symbolism appeared in Western books and popular culture. Cornell University Library: Language of Flowers collection.
For a modern illustrated overview, Jessica Roux’s Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers covers historical meanings across close to 100 blooms, according to its publisher. It is a guide to the tradition, not a single authoritative dictionary for all periods and cultures. Publisher’s page for Floriography.
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