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Valentine's Day Symbols
By Sean Carter
Last Updated
July 1, 2010
What are the first few things that come to your mind when you think of Valentine's Day? Cupids, flowers, candies, doves or hearts? Well it is only normal to associate these with Valentine's Day as they pretty much are the most popular Valentine's Day symbols. There are various symbols related to Valentine's Day, and these Valentine’s Day symbols often feature in the gifts and other tokens of love given out on February 14 or Valentine's Day. Cupid is numero uno when it comes to Valentine’s Day symbols, but there are many other symbols of Valentine's Day which you may be interested to check out. So read on.
Red Rose
 The red rose is as big a symbol of Valentine's Day as the turkey is of Thanksgiving! Roses symbolize love, compassion, peace, friendship and romance. But when it comes to red roses, they sure stand for one thing—the intensity of your love and passion for that special someone. Now this would be interesting to note that if you rearrange the letters in the word ‘rose’, you get ‘Eros’—the God of love (or Cupid). So rose is one of the leading Valentine’s Day symbols that rule hearts every February 14. And apart from the color red, roses of other colors are also sent out on Valentine's Day to convey different messages.
Hearts
Then the heart is the warmest Valentine’s Day symbol because it represents love in its purest form. Giving someone your heart means giving him/ her the thing that is most precious and vital to you. In a nutshell, a heart symbolizes life !
Birds
 Have you and your beloved ever been called love-birds ? Well, ‘love-birds’ is a word often used to indicate couples deeply in love. Birds are an important Valentine’s Day symbol as it is widely believed that birds find their mates on Valentine's Day. The Herricks have come to symbolize undying love. Doves on the other hand, are symbols of purity, humbleness and virtue. Pigeons and doves, it is said, mate for life and so are symbols of fidelity.
Ribbons and Frills
Ribbons and frills are the Valentine's Day symbols since the days of knighthood. It is said that maidens would give their beloveds (kings or soldiers) ribbons and frills before the latter went to war. The men used to keep the ribbons and frills with them while they fought.
Lace
Lace is also traditionally associated with love. How, you ask ? Well, in the past, if a woman liked a man, she dropped her lace handkerchief to send a signal to the man, and if the man picked it up for her, the feelings were thought to be mutual. Apart from lace, another well-known Valentine's Day symbol is the love-knot. Love knots have a series of intertwining and meandering knots without any beginning or end. These are the symbols of endless and eternal love.
Cupid
Think of Valentine’s Day and images of cute fat cupids and throbbing red hearts of various sizes are sure to dance in your mind. Why, you ask? Well, the cupids and hearts are the most powerful Valentine's Day symbols as you perhaps already know. The associations are so strong and deep-rooted that even a child will know it’s time for Valentine’s Day when he/ she spots cupids and hearts hanging in shop-windows and greeting card stores. The chubby cherubic being and that plush crimson riot of hearts sweep people off their feet irrespective of age and location. Such is the potential of these two Valentine's Day symbols—the god of love, Cupid and the indispensable pulsating organ within us, the heart. They create an instant connection without any medium of speech and they symbolize Valentine’s Day—the day of love ! (Photo by Yair Haklai, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons))
 Cupid is the son of the Roman goddess Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Cupid consequently became the popular god of love and it is believed that whoever Cupid strikes with his arrow, instantly falls madly in love. It is for this that the Cupid has come to be associated with Valentine’s Day and has become the most cherished Valentine's Day symbol. For those who don’t know, the Cupid looks like a little child with an innocent face, golden curls and blue eyes. He has a pair of wings and always carries a bow an arrow with him. So watch out for the Cupid…Valentine's Day is here and he may strike you any moment !
Now there you have the various symbols associated with Valentine's Day. So next time you pick a red rose for your beloved, or wrap a candy heart with a ribbon, do remember their symbolic connotations. That would ad more meaningfulness to your Valentine’s Day celebration, wouldn’t it ? And Valentine's Day would not have been half as special without the Cupids, roses, ribbons, laces, and decorated hearts around. So celebrate Valentine's Day with all the lovely Valentine's Day symbols and have a simply fabulous time !
Sean Carter writes on holidays, Valentine's Day and world events. He is a writer with special interest in ecard industry and writes for 123greetings.com. He is an
active blogger at Valentines Day Blog.
Article Source: Valentine's Day Symbols
More Resources Valentine's Day: Books for Kids
Learn more about Valentine's Day in these books from Amazon:
Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse!
Juliet The Valentine Fairy (Rainbow Magic)
The I LOVE YOU Book
More Resources for Flower Symbolism
For more on flower symbolism, see our recommended books from Amazon:
Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants and Trees
The Language of Flowers: Symbols And Myths
The Language of Flowers
The Meaning of Flowers
Forget-Me-Not: A Floral Treasury Sentiments and Plant Lore from the Language of Flowers
Send Valentine's Day Flowers to someone you love!
Valentine's Day Flowers - The Symbol Of Love
By Babu Banik
 When words are exhausted, offload your headache to a cute bunch of red roses this Valentine's Day if you want it to be heard when you say 'I Love You'. Flowers probably are the best way to express your innermost romanticism silently. This is where the significance of flowers in some special occasions like Valentine's Day lies. Rose - especially the red ones top the list and are treated as one of the most adorable Valentine's Day symbols, as are the cupids, candy hearts, ribbons, frills, love knots, doves and love birds.
Flowers have their own unique language of love that can convey a million romantic messages all at a time. Especially the Valentine's Day roses speak out most prominently the three magical words that your soul mate would love to hear on Valentine's Day. But red roses are not the only flowers that are used on Valentine's Day. The Valentine's Day colors are red, pink and white, which is why flowers such as pink and white roses, Carnations, Cammelia, Acacia, Azalea, Ivy, Chrysanthemum, Larkspur and Forget-me-not are also given to share expressions on this very special romantic time of the year.
 Different flowers convey different thoughts. While Acacia is the best option if you are looking for the most romantic way to convey your secret love messages, Camellia works bets if you want to reach out to your sweetheart with a romantic Good Luck message. Ivy and yellow roses are given to spread the aura of love filled friendship on Valentine's Day. Forget-me-not is given to pass on a message of true love to someone very special on Valentine's Day. Give your mate forget-me-not o the fine morning of Valentine's Day to remind those special memories of the past moments that you spent together I the shower and amidst the morning mist. If you are really worried about your boyfriend, give him a cute bunch of Azalea and reach out to him just to say "take care".
But that's not the end. You can use your creative sense to make Valentine's Day a memorable one. What's the harm reaching out to your mate with bunch of tulips or fireballs on February 13th to let him or her know that you could not wait another day to say I Love You? Special spirit can be added to Valentine's Day celebration by being more creative. Let the romantic person hidden within your soul come out with more creative ideas of Valentine's Day flowers apart from just the traditional red, white and pink roses. Having trouble sketching your feelings by words and don't want to give those traditional red roses?
 Think about some exotic sticks of orchids that symbolizes as much feelings of love and gratitude as the red roses, chrysanthemum and cammelia would. Primrose would be the right pick for those youngsters who are planning to covey the silent message of young love. If you want to delight your love with wonder by opening your heart and show how much you love him or her, a bunch of larkspur is the best option. Globe Amaranth coveys the message of unfading love to your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. Violet and yellow jasmine shows modesty and simplicity. If you are reaching out to your parents and teachers with heartfelt floral wishes nothing better you can express your regards to them on this special day than by giving them daffodils and daisies.
For other great articles and information please read my blog http://jibonerakibuki.blogspot.com
Article Source: Valentine's Day Flowers - The Symbol Of Love
For more on flower symbolism, see our recommended books from Amazon below :
Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants and Trees
The Language of Flowers: Symbols And Myths
The Language of Flowers
The Meaning of Flowers
Forget-Me-Not: A Floral Treasury Sentiments and Plant Lore from the Language of Flowers
Send Valentine's Day Flowers to someone you love!
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