Corsages of Yesterday and Today

Why do women (and some men) wear corsages?

        Historical portraits show single flower or a crown of flowers worn in a woman's hair. These as well as the crown of flowers that men wore, are the earliest corsages. Later photos show women with large cumbersome, and ackward bouquets of flowers off the shoulder or on a gown. Today’s corsage, worn on the shoulder, wrist, ankle, purse, shoe, or finger is lighter and easier to wear.

Corsages are worn for weddings, proms, formal events, Mother's Day, holidays, semi-formal occasions, memorials, graduations, anniversaries, award banquets, or for other special occasions. They are created with fresh, silk, or dried flowers, ferns, and ribbons. Depending on the situation and wearer’s style, they can be creative, elegant and/or fun.

In weddings, the corsage identifies members or family of the wedding party. In the past, mothers and grandmothers wore magnolia corsages that set them apart from other wedding members. Today, females may or may not wear corsages that match the bridal flowers. Some wedding corsages match the wedding colors rather than the bridal flowers and others are completely styled to the person, clothing color, or bridal choice.

Graduation corsages are usually symbolic of the class theme, color or motto. In the past they were always fresh flowers so that they could be “dried” for the baby book or scrap book. Today they are often silk so that class members can make them weeks in advance and for the ease of preservation for scrapbooks.

The Mother's Day corsage is usually an orchid, which represents love, beauty and strength as a sign of respect. It is usually matched to the color or the mother’s dress.

A Mother-to-be is honored with a corsage that is usually pink or blue for the baby's gender. If the gender is unknown, a pink/blue combo, green, or yellow is often used. Baby shower flowers are usually pastel colors.

Groups often wear corsages to symbolize patriotism, a memorial, awareness or their convictions to a cause. The flowers are often symbolic to the cause as well as the ribbons used to decorate the corsage. Causes are often identified by a color:

* Pink is most commonly associated with breast cancer awareness, birth parents, and childhood cancer awareness (alternative color: light blue)

* Yellow is known for support of our troops, MIA/POW, suicide prevention, adoptive parents, amber alerts, bladder cancer, spina bifida, endometriosis, and a general symbol for hope. A yellow ribbon with a heart is used to represent the survivors left behind after a suicide.

*Red is most commonly associated with the fight against AIDS and HIV, heart disease, stroke, substance abuse, MADD, DARE, Epidermolysis Bullosa, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy

*Burgandy is know for support of brain aneurysm, Cesarean section, headaches, hemangioma, vascular malformation, hospice care, multiple myeloma, William's syndrome, Thrombophilia, Antiphospholid Antibody Syndrome, and adults with disabilities

*The Purple color is a symbol of pancreatic cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid cancer, domestic violence, ADD, alzheimer's, religious tolerance, animal abuse, the victims of 9/11 including the police and firefighters, Crohn's disease and colitis, cystic fibrosis, lupus, leimyosarcoma, and fibromyalgia

*The Lavender colors symbolizes general cancer awareness as well as epilepsy, and rett syndrome

*Periwinkle is a symbol of eating disorders and pulmonary hypertension

*Blue is a symbol of drunk driving, child abuse, Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), the victims of hurricane Katrina, dystonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), alopecia, Education, Epstein-Barr Virus, Save the Music, colon cancer (alternative ribbon color: brown), colorectal cancer (alternative ribbon color: brown), and anti-tobacco - particularly anti-second hand smoke (in Canada; alternative ribbon color: brown), I Love Clean Air

*Dark Blue symbolizes arthritis, child abuse prevention, victim's rights, free speech, water quality, and water safety

*Light Blue is a symbol of childhood cancer (alternative color: pink), prostate cancer, Trisomy 18, and scleroderma

*Teal is a symbol for ovarian, cervical, and uterine cancers as well as sexual assault, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and tsunami victims

Green symbolizes childhood depression, missing children, open records for adoptees, environmental concerns, kidney cancer, tissue/organ donation, homeopathy, and worker and driving safety

*Orange is know for  leukemia, hunger, cultural diversity, humane treatment of animals, and self-injury awareness

*White is a symbol of innocence, victims of terrorism, violence against women, peace, right to life, bone cancer, adoptees, and retinal blastoma

*Pearl is a symbol for emphysema, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and multiple sclerosis

*Black is a symbol of mourning, melanoma, and gang prevention

*Brown symbolizes anti-tobacco symbol as well as a symbol of colon cancer (alternative ribbon color: blue), colorectal cancer (alternative ribbon color: blue)

*Grey is a symbol of diabetes, asthma, and brain cancer

*Silver Ribbon is a symbol for children with disabilities, Parkinson's disease, and mental illnesses such as severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders.

*Gold symbolizes childhood cancer and 50^th anniversary

*Lace ribbon and Queen’s Anne’s Lace is a symbol for osteoporosis

Pink and Blue together symbolize miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death due to SIDS or other causes

*Red, white, and blue used together symboize both the victims and heros of the 9/11 attacks, as well as patriotism and support of our troops and fireworks safety.

*Rainbow Colors symbolize gay pride and support for the GLBT community and their quest for equal rights.