Walking along the streets of Florence, you will certainly notice that a stylized lily with five petals is portrayed on many coat of arms, statues, paintings and buildings. It is the “Giglio”, the famous emblem of Florence whose name means “the city of flowers”.
But what does it represent and what is its origin?
To be precise, the flower is not a lily, but an iris or a so-called “fior di giaggiolo”. There are various hypothesis about its origin and we still don’t know the exact reason why the city chose this right symbol. Some historians affirm that it’s due to the iris fields which grew spontaneously around Florence, while others think it’s related to its meaning of pureness and to the important cult of the Holy Virgin in the city. The first theory is the most probable, as in many Annunciation paintings the Archangel Gabriel hold a lily in his hand, not an iris like the emblem one.
You can try to imagine how the landscape around the city looked like in the past visiting the amazing “Giardino dell’Iris”, a garden inaugurated in 1957 that contains hundreds of diverse kinds of irises. They blossom in the period between the end of April and the end of May, so if you are near Piazzale Michelangelo you cannot skip this visit! Here, you can look for the “Iris Florentina”, the white flower that inspired the coat of arms. In fact, the symbol was originally white on a red background, but Guelfs decided to switch its colors in 1252 to celebrate their victory. In 1412, the famous “Santa Maria del Fiore” cathedral was dedicated to the lily and it later appeared on the golden florin and on city’s standards.
It's important to distinguish the Florentine lily from the French one: the first symbolizes the freedom of the glorious Republic of Florence, it’s red on a white background and it presents two stamens full of buds under three main petals, while the second is golden on a blue background and doesn’t have any stamens.
Nowadays, the “Giglio fiorentino” has a significant importance and it’s often used for honorific medals and awards, like the one given to some heroic Florence citizens after 1966’s flood. Moreover, even the delicious “Schiacciata Fiorentina” has the form of a lily made with sugar on it!
Plan your trip to Florence now and book one of our properties in the old town center to look for the flower in each corner of the city!
