Language
of
Flowers

“A Legacy from Victorian Times” — The Language of Flowers

The Language of Flowers series launched in 1996 as one of Hallmark’s most literarily sophisticated series — rooted in the Victorian practice of floriography, the language of flowers, in which specific blossoms were used to send coded emotional messages. The practice flourished in the Victorian era, when society’s strict codes of behavior made direct declarations of feeling difficult. A pansy meant “thoughts of love.” A snowdrop meant hope and new beginnings. A rose meant remembrance and “I love you.” Hallmark’s explicit acknowledgment is on the 1999 box: “Messages associated with different flowers today are a legacy from Victorian times.”

Sue Tague sculpted all four entries at 3½ inches high, each an angel in a dress that matches her flower’s color, carrying her namesake flower in a silver-plated basket. The 1996 Pansy Angel (#1, QK1171, Showcase line) opens the series in purple — white wings, purple dress, bouquet of pansies, silver-plated container. The 1997 Snowdrop Angel (#2, QX1095) arrives in white coat and bonnet, a winter-morning angel carrying the first flowers of hope. The 1998 Iris Angel (#3, QX6156) is in blue — white wings, blue dress, a bouquet of bearded iris. And in 1999, the Rose Angel (#4 Final, QX6289) closes the series with the most universally recognized flower in the language: roses, meaning remembrance, meaning love, carried in a silver-plated basket by the series’ final angelic messenger.

Tips for the Collection

• 01
  Display all four together as a complete garden of angelic messengers — the flower meanings read as a continuous message in sequence. In numbered order: thoughts of love (Pansy, #1) → hope and new beginnings (Snowdrop, #2) → faith and wisdom (Iris, #3) → remembrance and love (Rose, #4). The four meanings form an emotional progression from affectionate thought through hope and faith to the fullness of love and remembrance. Displayed in sequence on adjacent branches or a shelf, the four angels tell a complete Victorian floral story.
• 02
  These are delicate handcrafted resin angels — handle gently and display where they will not be knocked. At 3½ inches high, the Language of Flowers angels are ornament-scale figurines with fine detail. The silver-plated baskets, flower bouquets, and wing details are fragile. Position them on inner branches where they are protected from contact, or display on a stand or shelf where they can be appreciated without risk of accidental contact.
• 03
  The Language of Flowers series makes an exceptional gift alongside a bouquet of the same flower. The Victorian premise is built for gifting: give a Language of Flowers ornament alongside real pansies (thoughts of love), snowdrops (hope), iris (faith and wisdom), or roses (remembrance, I love you). The flower and the ornament together communicate the message the Victorian sender would have understood. A gift with genuine literary history behind it.
• 04
  All 4 Language of Flowers Hallmark ornaments — the complete 1996–1999 series — are at Already Christmas. Pansy, Snowdrop, Iris, Rose. Four flowers. Four angels. Four messages from Victorian times. All four here.