Since ancient times, symbols of love have served as powerful reminders of the importance of love to people across a wide variety of cultures around the world. There are many reasons people are attracted to symbols that represent love.
“The most significant reason,” explains psychotherapist Joan E. Childs, “is that symbols can be seen in place of words that cannot always be spoken or heard. Symbols are explicit when words are not always available or needed.”
From the Celtic Sailor’s Knot dating back to at least the 8th Century to modern-day love emojis, symbols of love allow people to communicate fidelity and affection in ways that transcend written and spoken language. Through the ages, love symbols such as the heart, roses and cupid have stood the test of time. Love symbols take us on a fun ride of expressing ourselves. When you give out a symbol of love, you are expressing deep emotions. In a way, love symbols help us express how we feel about other people a lot more easily.
Global love symbols
Heart – When people think of love, the first symbol that comes to mind is most probably the heart. It has been around for years as a symbol of love. The heart has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past, the intellectual core of a human being.
Roses, an ancient symbol of love and beauty,have been used as symbols of love in various cultures since the beginning of time. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love, Aphrodite and Venus. In Rome, a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed.
Cupid – In Roman mythology, Cupid is the God of desire, affection and erotic love. In popular culture, Cupid is frequently shown shooting his bow to inspire romantic love, often as an icon of Valentine’s Day. He is now in the current culture the personification of love and courtship in general.
The butterfly – Botswana symbol of love
What many people probably don’t know is that Botswana has its own symbol of love, or at least one that was used to express love back in pre-colonial time. Yes, in pre-colonial times, the Tswana society reportedly used the butterfly to express love! Long before the culture of showering the objects of our affections with much-coveted trinkets became commonplace, life was a lot simpler and sweeter. Would-be suitors would go to great pains to demonstrate their affections for a love interest.
- For the Chinese, two butterflies flying together represent love.
- For the Japanese, the butterfly represents marital bliss.
- For the Americans, releasing butterflies at the end of a wedding ceremony symbolises love and the promise of blissful marriage.
It is important to highlight the amount of effort a man put into chasing around a beautiful but delicate butterfly, catching and presenting it to his sweetheart, alive and unharmed. Such an effort is also testament to patience – one of the virtues that have been known to nurture long-lasting romantic love – that went into the whole gesture of courting.
Interestingly, it seems our forefathers were onto something because to this day, the butterfly remains one of the most symbolic species globally. The metamorphosis of the butterfly from larvae signifies a deep and personal symbolism to cultural and religious reflections, longevity, rebirth, spiritual awakening, resilience, change, new beginnings and endurance, among others to many the world over.
Source: Culture Botswana 2.0
About Culture Botswana 2.0: A unique nation-building tool, Culture Botswana 2.0 champions cultural diversity, inclusion, equality and visibility through indigenous-culture journalism that documents and dignifies all of Botswana’s indigenous cultures. Culture Botswana 2.0 has a Facebook page of the same name.
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