November birth flower: chrysanthemum
November’s birth flower is the chrysanthemum. The Victorian flower dictionaries read it by colour: the red chrysanthemum “I love”, the white truth and the yellow slighted love.
Meaning
The Old Farmer’s Almanac, University of Illinois Extension and West Virginia University Extension all give the chrysanthemum alone; the Farmers’ Almanac adds the peony as a second flower. The garden chrysanthemum is a complex hybrid of five Chinese species (NC State Extension). Katharine Beals wrote in 1917 that it was a native of China, originally yellow, brought to its modern form mainly by the florists of China and Japan, and that its name comes from two Greek words meaning golden flower.
Origin and history
The chrysanthemum has not always been November’s. Beals, writing in 1917, gives it October: “Its month is October.” In the saints’-day Calendar of Flowers that Henrietta Dumont printed in 1851, the Indian chrysanthemum falls on 7 October. Beals quotes a Japanese verse, “In the second month the peach tree blooms, But not till the ninth the chrysanthemums”, and describes the chrysanthemum festival, Kiku-no-sekku, held in the ninth month, and the displays in Tokyo on the Emperor’s birthday, then 3 November, where life-size figures were made entirely of chrysanthemums. She calls it the national floral emblem of Japan, though some writers, she says, would give that place to the cherry blossom.
Red, white and yellow
Kate Greenaway (1884) gives the red chrysanthemum “I love”, the white truth and the yellow slighted love. West Virginia University Extension’s modern list keeps the same three almost word for word: red “I love you”, yellow “slightly loved”, white truth. Beals heads her chapter with wealth and abundance. University of Illinois Extension gives truth and friendship, and West Virginia University Extension gives November’s chrysanthemum joy and optimism.
Where you’ll see it today
whatdoesthissymbolmean.comNovember birthstones: topaz and citrineThe same month's birthstoneRead next
- Next in Birth flowersDecember birth flowers: narcissus and hollyDecember’s birth flowers are the narcissus, usually the paperwhite, and the holly; some lists give the poinsettia. The Victorian flower dictionaries gave the narcissus egotism or self-love, and the holly foresight.
- November's flower; the dictionaries read it by colourChrysanthemumThe English flower lists gave the chrysanthemum meanings by colour: Kate Greenaway made the red "I love", the white "truth" and the yellow "slighted love". In Japan the chrysanthemum is the emblem of the imperial family.
See also
January birth flowers: carnation and snowdrop, February birth flowers: violet and primrose, March birth flowers: daffodil and jonquil, April birth flowers: daisy and sweet pea, May birth flowers: lily of the valley and hawthorn, June birth flowers: rose and honeysuckle.
Sources
- Monthly Birth Flowers, Master Gardeners of Luzerne County, Penn State Extension
- Birth Flowers by Month: Discover Your Monthly Flower & Meaning, Catherine Boeckmann, updated 17 September 2026, The Old Farmer’s Almanac
- Birth Flower Chart: All 12 Birth Flowers by Month, Shivani Vyas, updated 19 August 2026, Farmers’ Almanac
- Floriography: The meaning of flowers, Bruce J. Black and Rhonda Ferree, updated November 2022, University of Illinois Extension
- WL 173 Floriography: The Language of Flowers, Natasha Harris and Jesica Streets, 2022, West Virginia University Extension
- Language of Flowers, illustrated by Kate Greenaway, 1884, George Routledge and Sons (Project Gutenberg edition)
- The Language of Flowers: The Floral Offering, by Henrietta Dumont, 1851, H. C. Peck & Theo. Bliss, Philadelphia (Project Gutenberg edition)
- Flower Lore and Legend, by Katharine M. Beals, 1917, Henry Holt and Company, New York (Internet Archive)
- Chrysanthemum × morifolium (Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox), NC State Extension
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from circles or curves and waves.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
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