It’s May 1, a national holiday in France to celebrate workers. The day is often celebrated with demonstrations, and today is no different. Unions have called for a large demonstration against the French pension reforms. As it’s a public holiday, it’s likely to be a family affair. Sprinkled throughout the protests, there are also likely to be bouquets of tiny, fresh white flowers called muguet or Lilly of the Valley.
The first of May is not only the fête du travail, but also a day when the French celebrate the arrival of spring by gifting springs of muguet to loved ones.
When I first moved to France, I was enthralled by the buckets of muguet being sold on the sidewalks, the sweet intoxicating smell filling the air. It was one of those French customs that seemed so obvious to my friends and family that it seemed silly that I didn’t know the custom. Like most things French, you need to go back a few centuries to understand why giving away delicate, yet poisonous, flowers has become the norm.
A symbol of luck
Flowers have symbolized the return of spring since ancient times. The Romans celebrated springtime with a festival dedicated to the goddess of flowers, Flora. The holiday was from April 28 to May 3 and was marked with a number of games, with participants adorning their hair with flowers.
The Celts had a similar holiday, Beltane, celebrated on May 1 when the hawthorn trees were in bloom.
With the days becoming warmer and longer, and fresh blooms filling Parisian gardens, it’s not surprising that a similar tradition lives on in France.
According to several French sources, it’s thought that on May 1, 1560, King Charles IX of France was offered a spring of muguet as a symbol of good luck. The king loved this idea so much that he brought it back to his court and would offer the flowers to the ladies of his court every spring. While this information is hard to verify and is likely more myth than fact, the tradition was kept among the aristocracy of France.
During the French Revolution, muguet was not associated with May 1, but with the Republican Day on the 7th of Floréal (April 26) in the French Republican calendar (the French established a different calendar during the Revolution).
Instead, it was the red triangle which was associated with the struggles of the working class, which was later replaced by the red rose hip 1891.
On May 1, 1891, a group of workers in northern France marched to demand an 8-hour workday, much like factory workers in Chicago had done a few years earlier. However, the protest turned violent, with nine people killed. One of the young women killed, Maria Blondeau, was holding a bouquet of rose hips. The rose replaced the red triangle in her memory and as a symbol of the bloodshed and struggle that workers faced.
Lilly of the Valley had fallen out of favor.
A symbol of style
It wasn’t until the early 1900s that Lilly of the Valley became a symbol, not of the people, but of the fashionistas of the day. French singer Felix Mayol was given a spring of muguet to wear during one of his first performances. It was a success, and he started to wear muguet during most of his performances. The flower soon became en vogue, with French designer Christian Dior making it one of his brand signatures.
Muguet didn’t become a symbol of the working people until 1941, when Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain or Marshal Pétain as he’s commonly referred to, made May 1 a public holiday for workers. He felt the traditional red rose hip worn by workers was too Leftist and associated the red color with Communism. The rose was banned and replaced with a spring of muguet.
Quick note: Pétain is a controversial figure in France. Although he was a very famous general during WWI, he led the French collaboration with the Nazi regime during WWII.
If you’re in Paris today, you’ll likely stumble across people selling springs of muguet. It’s one of the few times of the year when selling on the sidewalk is tolerated by police, although with the planned protests, they are likely to have other things on their mind.
For me, at least, the muguet is a symbol of French culture and the start of the terrace season. And it will forever be one of those small cultural things that makes living in France so magical.
À la prochaine fois,
-Moriah
This was such an interesting read, thank you for sharing this thread of history.