Curious about aster flower meaning? Then you’ve come to the right place!
The meaning of asters differs across colors and cultures, but they’re generally associated with love, wisdom, faithfulness, and devotion. They’re also a symbol of daintiness, hope, patience, farewell, and contentment.
In this article, I’ll be discussing aster flower meanings and symbolization. So keep reading to learn more about these beauties.
What Are Aster Flowers?
With more than 600 species, aster flowers belong to the genus Symphyotrichum and the family Asteraceae. They’re perennial, herbaceous plants that can grow up to 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
Aster flowers look like daisies and exist in a wide range of vibrant shades of purple, pink, blue, white, red, and yellow colors. Their name is Greek for ‘star’.
Asters bloom in late summer and early fall. They love sunny conditions and occur in hardiness zones 3 to 8 USA.
What Is the Meaning of Aster Flowers?
Now that you have a better understanding of the general characteristics of aster blossoms, it’s time we take a closer look at the different associations of aster flower colors.
I mentioned earlier that asters exist in a wide range of purple, pink, and blue shades. You can also find them in white, red, and yellow colors.
Below is an explanation of the meaning behind each hue of aster flowers:
Purple aster flowers
There’s no doubt that purple is one the most gorgeous colors to witness on a flower. This beauty is even more evident in aster flowers thanks to their defined and delicate daisy-like shape.
Purple aster flowers come in a variety of shades ranging from lighter tints such as mauve, lavender, and lilac to deeper shades such as violet and indigo.
As such, different shades of purple aster flowers indicate different meanings.
Lighter shades of purple asters are usually a symbol of elegance, youth, and kindness. As for darker shades of purple aster, they’re typically associated with royalty, pride, and nobility.
That said, purple aster flowers generally represent wisdom, loyalty, dignity, and glamor. They can also be linked to shows of class, affection, uniqueness, spirituality, confidence, extravagance, or even mystery.
Purple aster flowers can also stand for faith, fortune, and health.
Examples of purple aster flower species include Smooth Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) and New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae).
When presenting purple aster flowers as gifts, they’re suitable for pretty much any event because they exist in many shades that can be interpreted in numerous ways.
Use purple asters to wish someone a speedy recovery, congratulate them on their success, be friendly, or let them know you’re thinking of them. You can also feature them on formal occasions such as graduations, weddings, sophisticated dinners, and business-related events.
Pink aster flowers
Pink aster blossoms are a symbol of innocence, playfulness, youth, tenderness, and femininity. Like many other pink flowers, they’re associated with shows of love, romance, and contentment.
Pink asters exist in light shades such as dusty rose and baby pink, as well as dark shades such as hot pink and fiery rose. In general, pink aster blooms represent affection and grace.
Examples of pink aster flower species include Aster novae-angliae ‘Andenken an Alma Potschke’ and New York asters (Aster novi-belgii ‘Fellowship’).
When presenting pink asters as gifts, they’re a fantastic way to reveal or show your admiration to a loved one. They make for lovely displays on Valentine’s Day and are suitable for weddings and anniversaries.
White aster flowers
White aster flowers represent purity and innocence like many other white flowers out there. The delicate shape of white asters also makes them a symbol of hope, genuineness, care, and lightheartedness.
White aster blooms are also associated with feelings of faith, gentleness, spirituality, and kindness. They’re also an indication of well wishes and intentions.
Among the examples of white aster species are the Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) and Heath Aster (Aster ericoides).
When presenting white aster flowers as gifts, they effectively show support and send well wishes to your loved ones. These blooms are also suitable for Mother’s Day, wedding arrangements, and friendly gestures.
Red aster flowers
Red is the color of deep feelings and dramatic emotions. This is exactly why red aster flowers -like most res flowers- are a symbol of love, romance, and burning passion.
Red aster can also stand for devotion, fiery desire, pleasure, energy, and enthusiasm. They can also represent confidence and boldness.
While red aster blooms aren’t nearly as common as other colors of aster, there are increasing efforts to breed red varieties and make them readily available for everyone to enjoy. A popular example of red aster flowers is the KICKIN Carmine Red (Aster novae-angliae).
Red asters make for a wonderful gift for your significant other to express your romantic love. They’re suitable for date nights, anniversaries, and Valentine’s Day gifts.
Blue aster flowers
Blue is one of the rarest colors in the wild. In fact, plants possessing blue flowers occur less than 1 in 10 cases, according to the University of Adelaide.
So when you come across a species of aster that can produce blue blossoms, you should learn to appreciate the sight. This explains why these flowers are a symbol of high regard, nobility, and perfection.
A blue aster flower can also represent the purity of love at first sight or the bitterness of unrequited love or an impossible romance.
The rarity of blue flowers in nature also makes blue aster flowers closely associated with meanings of unattainability.
That said, not all blue aster blooms are of the same intensity. Asters with a lighter shade of blue are typically linked to feelings of hope, stability, peace, and tranquility.
Asters with a darker shade of blue are usually a symbol of faith, dreams, thoughtfulness, mystery, or even secrecy. They can also represent complexity, depth, or power.
Examples of blue aster flower species include Symphyotrichum novi-belgii ‘Lady in Blue’, Aster × frikartii ‘Wunder von Stäfa’, and Aster ‘Matsumoto White Tipped Blue’.
Using blue asters as a gift can be tricky, but it’s possible. These beauties make for classy “get well” gifts and look nice added to Mother’s Day bouquets.
Yellow aster flowers
Last but not least, we have yellow aster blossoms. This color in flowers is usually linked to positivity, optimism, good moods, and strength.
Yellow asters offer the same meanings, and the flower’s daisy-like shape only serves to highlight its association with joy, happiness, cheerfulness, and fun.
Additionally, yellow aster flowers are a symbol of tight friendship and their brightness gives a nice sense of rejuvenation and new beginnings. They can also represent warmth, contentment, lightheartedness, affection, and good luck.
Yellow aster flowers don’t occur as commonly as purple aster or any other color for that matter, but they’re out there. A popular example of yellow aster species is the Golden aster or Maryland Aster (Chrysopsis marian).
When presenting yellow aster flowers as gifts, you’re sending a message that you care a lot for the person on the receiving end. They’re a sign of positivity and affection, so yellow aster flowers are an ideal way to cheer up a loved one and add some joy to their day.
Yellow asters are suitable for birthdays, holidays, parties, or pleasant gestures.
What Do Asters Symbolize?
In addition to having various meanings according to their color, aster flowers also symbolize many things across different cultures and represent a range of ideas across different occasions.
In Birthdays
The aster flower is the official birth blossom for individuals born in September. With a shape similar to daisies, this beautiful bloom is a symbol of faith, valor, and wisdom.
It’s also linked to love, affection, and good luck. When you give asters to someone born during this month, you’re letting them know that you care about them and wish them only the best.
This star-shaped flower comes in vibrant shades of purple, pink, blue, white, red, and yellow. Any of them will make an ideal gift for a September birthday, but you may want to consider the receiver’s favorite color.
A bouquet of aster flowers sends a message of deep affection and appreciation. It’s a way of asking someone to love and take care of themselves because you want them to be well and happy.
In Wedding Anniversaries
Aster flowers have a significant symbolism when it comes to wedding anniversaries. As per traditions, these lovely blooms are meant to be given to couples on their 20th wedding anniversary.
Aster flowers are a widely popular choice for bouquets and displays presented to celebrate 20 years of being together. This is truly fitting because asters are a symbol of:
- Love; it’s essential in a long-lasting marriage or relationship.
- Wisdom; it’s something long-term couples learn over the years.
- Commitment; it’s a necessary trait for a couple to stick to each other during all those years.
- Devotion; it’s a must to be able to stay together for a lifetime.
In Greek Culture and Mythology
The aster flower is deeply embedded into Greek culture and mythology.
People in ancient Greek considered aster blossoms a very important plant to have close by. They placed them inside and around their homes and burned the plant’s leaves as they believed that asters’ presence and smoke were very effective in scaring away evil spirits and deterring harmful creatures such as snakes.
Also, I mentioned earlier that the word ‘aster’ comes from the Greek word for ‘star’. This originates from a tale in Greek mythology that goes as follows:
- When the titan goddess Asteria (goddess of shooting stars and nocturnal oracles) looked up to admire the sky but couldn’t find any stars twinkling back at her, she was consumed with great sadness that made her start to cry. Her tears fell to the ground and aster flowers blossomed in their place.
- In a different version of this story, the goddess Asteria was consumed by sadness when the god of thunder Juniper inflicted a flood upon the earth and caused the death of humans. Due to her immense sorrow, Asteria turned into a star and wept, her tears falling to earth and sprouting aster flowers across the globe.
- Another story showcases Virgo (represented as Astrea) -the star maiden and goddess of innocence and justice- scattering stardust all over the world. Wherever the stardust fell, asters grew and blossomed.
In Astrology
The aster flower is one of the assigned flowers for the Zodiac sign Capricorn.
This bloom is a symbol of wisdom, faith, and devotion. It perfectly applies to Capricorn individuals who are ambitious, goal-driven, and always make decisions based on logic and wisdom.
The aster flower is also associated with precision and justice. These values are very important to Capricorns.
In Victoria Floriography
The popularity of floriography was raging during the Victorian era. In the 1800s, you could find a guide or book discussing flower language and symbolization in pretty much every Victorian household.
Floriography is the language of flowers. It gives blossoms and plants different meanings and symbols, allowing people to use them to send hidden messages and subtly express feelings or thoughts.
Thanks to their wide range of colors, aster flowers were a huge hit in floriography. In general, the aster flower in Victorian floriography represents love, gentleness, and daintiness.
Purple asters are a symbol of royalty, pride, and wisdom, whereas pink asters stand for affection and sensitivity. White asters represent innocence, perfection, and purity, while red asters correspond to devotion and passion.
In Chinese Culture
In Chinese culture, aster flowers are a symbol of devotion, commitment, and faithfulness. China Aster (Callistephus chinensis), also known as annual aster, is native to China and blooms in a wide range of colors including white, pink, pale yellow, red, rose, blue, purple, lavender, and violet.
In Ancient Roman Culture
Like in Greek culture, people in ancient Rome also believed that burning aster leaves and scattering aster was beneficial in warding off evil spirits and scaring away dangerous creatures such as scorpions and snakes.
In ancient Roman culture, people also considered aster flowers to be sacred and associated them with the Roman gods. They often used them to decorate altars, temples, and shrines.
In Native American Culture
Aster flowers also carry significance in Native American culture. A legend within native tribes showcases the origin of aster blooms as follows:
- Two girls wandered into the woods to escape battling tribes. They got lost for a while but an old herbalist lady eventually found them and predicted their future as humans would be full of pain, sorrow, and death.
To save their lives, she decided to transform them into flowers. One of the girls was turned into an aster flower — she wore a blue fringed dress.
In European Culture
In European culture, aster flowers were regarded as blooms of mystical and mysterious vibes.
In England and Germany, people believed asters had magical powers that could bring good luck and drive away evil spirits.
In France, particularly during World War II, those who lost loved ones placed aster flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers. The delicate blossoms represented their wish for a different outcome for the dead.
Additionally, asters are considered a symbol of change because they start blooming when fall begins.
Wrap Up On Aster Flower Meaning
There you have it, everything you need to know about aster flower meanings and symbolization.
Although they differ depending on color and culture, asters are generally a symbol of love, wisdom, faithfulness, and devotion. They also represent daintiness, patience, hope, farewell, and contentment.
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