The sunflower has become an international symbol of Ukraine – but why?
It all goes back to the first day of the Russian invasion, and a message of condemnation that
was heard around the world.
In a candid video, a Ukrainian woman confronted Russian soldiers on the street in Henychesk
on February 24, 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Telling the men they were occupiers unwelcome in her country, she urged them to put sunflower
seeds in their pockets – for a very specific reason.
According to a translation by BBC News, she told them, "Take these seeds so sunflowers
grow when you die here."
The original post by Ukrainian World was shared widely on social media and viewed over eight
million times, and the video introduced a new symbol onto the world stage: the sunflower.
It is the national flower of Ukraine, and historically a symbol of peace.
According to Time, the sunflowers and images of sunflowers that have begun to pop up everywhere,
from social media profiles to Texas fields to billboards on Illinois roadsides, have
come to symbolize support for Ukraine and resistance to the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian word is sunyashniki.
Beloved by Ukrainians and grown in large quantities throughout the central part of the country,
sunflowers have both cultural and practical value as a useful crop.
Sunflower oil is a worldwide staple, and sunflower seeds are a popular snack.
According to Reuters, Ukraine and Russia produce around 80% of the world's sunflower oil.
Because sunflowers are so prolific in Ukraine, particularly in the warm "Black Earth" regions
where they grow particularly well in the rich soil, the image of fields full of sunflowers
has come to represent the country.
Sunflowers are phototropic, meaning the flower heads and upper leaves follow the sun across
the sky, facing east in the morning and west in the evening.
According to the cultural and travel website MIR, in Ukrainian folk history, the flower
represents the sun.
In pre-Christian days, the sun was worshiped by Slavic people.
After the Cold War ended in 1991, Ukraine was left with stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
The weapons amounted to the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
The country sought to get rid of its weapons, signing the United Nations Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons in 1993.
Ukrainian, Russian, and U.S. defense ministers planted sunflowers at a 1996 ceremony at a
Ukraine missile base to celebrate Ukraine's denuclearization.
Even though Russia and Ukraine have had conflicts since, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine
that began in February 2022, Time points out that the post-Cold War symbolism of peace
has not changed, and that the sunflower now represents hope for peace in the future.
This view is backed up by the sunflower's appearance on anti-war protest signs.
The imagery has also been embraced by the American nonprofit organization "Sunflower
of Peace," which has been raising money to provide medical supplies for Ukrainians since
2015, dating back to days of the Russian invasion of the Donbas region of Ukraine.
Despite being such an important part of Ukraine's landscape and economy, sunflowers are not
native to the country.
In fact, they're not native to Europe at all.
Sunflowers are from North America, according to the Alternative Field Crops Manual, thought
to be domesticated around 3000 years ago by American Indian tribes.
From there, the crop spread north and south from Canada to Mexico.
Seeds were imported to Europe, where the flower was considered a curiosity until the people
of Ukraine and western Russia adopted the plant as their own and began cultivating it
in earnest.
According to the cultural and travel website MIR, sunflowers became popular there for religious
reasons.
The Orthodox Church forbade the use of butter or lard during the season of Lent, traditionally
a time of sacrifice.
Sunflower oil, made from a newly-introduced plant, was not specifically forbidden.
Therefore by 1800, Ukraine and western Russia had fields upon fields of sunflowers to provide
homegrown oil for Lent.
Ever since the day the Ukrainian woman told the Russian soldier to fill his pockets with
sunflower seeds, images of sunflowers have been popping up worldwide and on the internet,
to show support for the people of Ukraine.
First Lady Jill Biden wore a dress with a sunflower on the sleeve to the State of the
Union address on March 1.
Sunflowers have been displayed by anti-war protesters in Mexico City, Caracas, and other
locations throughout the world, including Russia, where protesting the war is illegal
and has led to thousands of arrests.
Not just a symbol of solidarity, the Ukrainian national flower is also being used to provide
financial support to Ukrainians during the Russian invasion of the country.
Artists in Texas and Ohio pledged the proceeds from their sunflower-themed artwork to humanitarian
organizations helping in Ukraine.
Funds from a sunflower-growing competition in Cornwall, England were slated to be used
for medical supplies for Ukraine; participants from all over the world, including New Zealand
and Thailand, jumped at the chance to be part of the sunflower growing fundraising effort.
The Boston-based organization Sunflower of Peace is raising money to send backpacks full
of medical supplies to Ukraine.
Sunflower of Peace founder Katya Malakhova told Morning in America in an interview that
the backpacks are equipped with basic first-aid and medical supplies to stop bleeding and
help people survive in the extreme conditions of war.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Grunge videos about history and world events are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.