San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-04-12
FLOWERS AND EMBLEMS.
THEIR HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL
SlGNlFICANCES.


sprinS"--The German Emperor and the
Blue CONFEDERATION the PIantagenets
Secured Their Names.
The violet was chosen by the adherents of
Napoleon as their badge during his exile in
Elba QS1-l5. Meeting a stranger, one
would ask, "Almez-vous La violettep do
you love the violet0 An ignorant person
might answer simply, "Oui." CYes.l But
one in the secret would add, "Bien!" twellD
and would receive the countersign, Ellie
reviendra au printemps." Qt will return in
the spring..
From the time of his departure Napoleon
was toasted as Corp. or Gen. Violet. His
friends wore rings and ribbons of violet color
A popular design was group Of violets so
drawn that practiced eye could discover in
two large ones the likenesses of Napoleon and
Marie Louise, while smaller one displayed
the features of their son, "the King of Rome /"
After the battle of Waterloo the wearing of
violets was considered reasonable. 1t has
been well said of the flower that, "springing
in obscurity, and retaining its perfume in
death, it was a wonderful emblem of him
who rose from the valleys of Corsica to the
has been a spell of power long after he ceased
10 breathe the air of earth"
THE MOTHER AND THE CoRNFLowER.
The fondness of the late Emperor William
of Germany for the blue cDrnflower has
caused it to be commonly known by the
name of Kaiserblume Cthe Emperor's lower).
1t was associated with tender memories of his
noble mother, Louisa of Prussia. Her
enemy, Napoleon, expressed his opinion of
her talents when he characterized her as "the
only man in the family" and said on hearing
the news of her death: THE King of
Prussia has lost his best minister" When
fleeing to Memel with her children after the
battle of Jena, an accident to the carriage
obliged them to wait awhile by the roadside
To divert the tired and hungry children from
the thoughts of their discomfort, she set them
to gathering the cOFnhOwers and made gar
lands to decorate their heads, singing the
while old ballads and telling stories 1t was
a scene which William never forgot and that
was proud day when he humbled the power
of the country from which she had endured
so much; and the old monarch in the glories
of his triumph was heard to murmur: MY
mother, thou art avenged"
Long ago, when surnames were rare and
changing, the naughty family of Plantagenet
took their name from the broom, plante-de-
genet. 1t is said that one of the early counts
of Anjou did penance by receiving a severe
fagellatiOn, and adopted for his badge the
broom plant from which the whips were
made, that thus he might be ever reminded
of the punishment which assure to follow sin.
We have the choice of adopting a more pleas
ant stOry-that Godfrey, of AniOu. the hus
band of Dame Maud,"' daughter of Henry
| of England, when climbing steep pass
was much impressed by the sight of the
broom plants clinging to the stones. See"
cried he, that golden lowered plant, so
firmly rooted among the rocks, and giving
support to the soil! That humble flower
shall henceforth be my cognizance"
ROSE, THISTLE AND SHAMROCK.
Nations, as well as individuals, have had
their emblem flowers. The rose was CEN
turtles ago the chosen flower of England, and
the white and the red were the badges of the
two rival branches of the Plantagenet family.
the houses of York and Lancaster. At the
time of the happy union of their claims in
the marriage of Henry of Richmond with
Elizabeth"Of York it is said that a, rose of
mingled colors sprang miraculously into
being; it combined the hues of the bleeding
rose" Of one race and ''the pale and maiden
blossom" Of the other Such rose is still in
existence, and is known as the York and
Lancaster rose.n
Scotland's national flower, the thistle, bear:
the proud motto whose truth her foes hay,
often proved, Memo meNimpune lacessit lSC
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