If you leave your home this Thursday, May 1, 2025, and go to the market or in the city center, it is very likely that you will find lily of the valley. For the Labor day, it is indeed in the tradition of offering lily of the valley to its loved ones, and this since the 16th century.
At that time, the date of May 1 was not the Labor Day but that of lovers, long before Valentine’s Day was essential. Men, whether princes or lords, offered crowns of flowers to their beloved. It was in 1561 that King Charles IX formalized this custom by offering thrush to the ladies of the court.
Lily of the valley, with its white bells, quickly won the hearts. From, This tradition has spread beyond couplesand lily of the valley is now offered with family and friends.
And lily of the valley
Although lily of the valley is associated with May 1, it has no direct link with the Labor Day. The latter found its origins in 1889, when The Congress of the IIᵉ Socialist International chooses this date to claim the eight -hour day. At the time, red Eglantine was the symbol of workers.
In 1941, under the Vichy regime, Marshal Pétain officially established Labor Day and replaces red eglantine with thrush. Since then, the touch of thrush has become a symbol of this day, carried by those who parade for the rights of workers.
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