The tradition of counting flowers in a bouquet has ancient symbolic roots. It is related to ideas about life, death and the harmony of numbers that were formed in pre-Christian times. An odd number has long been considered “living” — as not bisecting, and therefore symbolizes movement, development, and prolongation of life. Even, on the contrary, was perceived as the end, peace and symbolic “completeness of the circle”, that is, the end. That is why an odd number of flowers became a sign of wishing for life, and an even number of flowers honored the dead.
This tradition is most widespread in the countries of Eastern Europe, in particular in Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and partly in Georgia. In these cultures, an even number is associated with burials or memorial rites. Therefore, for example, a bouquet of two or four flowers is not customary to give for a birthday or wedding —, this is considered a bad omen.
In Western Europe, on the contrary, there are no such superstitions. There, the number of flowers in a bouquet has no symbolic meaning, and as many are given as are considered beautiful or appropriate. The French, Italians or British pay more attention to the color and type of plants: red roses mean love, white lilies — purity, and yellow tulips — joy and friendship.
It is interesting that in Japan they also attach great importance to the symbolism of numbers: there they avoid giving four flowers, because the word “four” sounds similar to the word “death”. A similar taboo exists in China, where even the packaging of gifts with four items can be perceived as a hint of misfortune.
Thus, the division into “is odd for the living, even for the dead” — is a cultural heritage that combines ancient beliefs and elements of symbolic thinking. And while fewer and fewer people in today's world are thinking about the number of flowers, tradition retains its power — as a manifestation of respect, tact and cultural memory.
