Like many other varieties, the cotton flower’s meaning and symbolism are dependent on one’s culture. The cotton plant is a member of the genus Gossypium and, aside from its commercial use, also has a wide array of symbolic meanings when included in bouquets and floral arrangements.
The symbolic meanings of a cotton flower include maternal love, spirituality and magic, and the strength of a marriage. The cotton flower is also associated with the afterlife and the promise of wealth.
This article will help you understand the meaning and symbolism of the cotton flower in further detail. It’ll also answer some other questions you may have about this flower, such as whether you can grow it in your garden. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
The Symbolic Meaning of Cotton
As mentioned above, cotton has several symbolic meanings, depending on the culture. Let’s look at some of them.
Spirituality and Magic
The cotton flower is associated with spirituality and magic in both Indian and Native American traditions.
In India, the 19th-century philosopher Sri Aurobindo said that the cotton flower is related to success in the material world. At the same time, he said that the flower – just like material success – is valuable only when it is “offered to the Divine.”
To him, the flower was a symbol of the material body. Like the body changes and grows during a person’s life, so does the cotton flower – and, therefore, the cotton flower also symbolizes change and growth.
For Zuni Pueblo people, cotton from Gossypium hirsutum (upland cotton, white is native to Central America, the United States, and Mexico) was used to make ceremonial garments and as part of their spiritual ceremonies. For this reason, the cotton plant is associated with magic and spirituality in Native American culture.
Additionally, Native American people have been cultivating cotton for at least 1400 years. They originally used cotton for clothing, as well as using roasted cottonseed as food for animals.
Native American peoples also associated cotton flowers with healing – an association that has continued to this day. Not just Native Americans but people around the world have used cotton gauze to cover wounds for hundreds of years, thus showing the appropriateness of this association.
Cotton is also associated with healing in Ayurveda. The plant is used as a treatment for rat and scorpion bites, joint pain, and swollen legs, among other purposes. It is also used to make Ayurvedic clothes, which are said to have healing properties.
Because of its association with magic, one of the symbolic meanings of seeing cotton or a cotton flower in your dream is that of a spiritual awakening.
Maternal Love
In Korean culture, the cotton flower is associated with maternal or familial love. For this reason, it is often seen in Mother’s Day bouquets or floral arrangements given to family members (or as a way of telling someone you consider them to be family).
This association has also made its way to television. In the Korean TV series My First First Love, one of the flowers featured in a bouquet gifted by the male lead to the female lead is the cotton flower. This, he explains to her, represents maternal love and is his way of telling her that she is as close as family to him.
Similarly, in the television drama Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, the goddess Samshin gifts the female protagonist cotton flowers on the day she graduates from high school. This is her way of symbolizing that she is standing in for her mother for the occasion.
For this reason, cotton flowers are a unique tattoo choice if you want something representative of your mother.
Strength of a Marriage
Cotton is the traditional gift given on a person’s second wedding anniversary, which makes the cotton flower a popular choice in second-anniversary bouquets.
This flower, which is the source of a material that is both light and strong, is believed to symbolize the strength of a marriage in many Western countries – because, like cotton, a strong marriage should also be strong and malleable. Because of its connection to a strong marriage and luck, cotton is often included in bridal bouquets.
Death and the Afterlife
Cotton is used to make shrouds in a number of religious traditions, including Hinduism and Christianity.
For this reason, cotton is associated with death and the afterlife. Aside from being a way to commemorate a maternal figure, cotton flower tattoos are also used to memorialize loved ones.
In Buddhism, cotton flowers are linked to immortality and purity. As Buddhism believes in rebirth, cotton flowers are also a good way of representing the cycle of life.
Additionally, in some cultures, cotton flowers are meant to represent a reminder to cherish the people around you – an appropriate association for a flower that is also linked to death.
Wealth
Seeing the cotton flower in your dreams is believed to signify that you will be coming into money soon. More than that, it represents money that will be earned easily, without much effort on your part.
For this reason, seeing the cotton flower in your dreams is considered extremely lucky, leading to its association with material wealth, prosperity, and money.
Other Symbolic Meanings of the Cotton Flower
Some other symbolic meanings of the cotton flower include:
- Blessings from God
- Luck
- Following another
- Excellence
Additionally, seeing a dirty cotton flower in your dream is a warning that you need to be cautious and approach your next steps in life carefully.
Tips on Growing Cotton
If you’re looking to grow a few cotton plants in your backyard, here are a few tips that will help ensure they grow well:
- Make sure growing cotton is legal in your state. Some states ban the growing of non-commercial cotton in order to prevent cotton pests from infecting commercial plants. Before growing cotton at home, ensure you’re following all your local laws.
- Cotton plants require a warm climate. If you live in a cooler area, it may do better under grow lights. Because it prefers warmer weather, it should only be planted after the last frost has melted and winter is completely over.
- Cotton requires a lot of water and is a water-intensive plant to grow. However, you still need to be careful when watering this plant – it does not react well when overwatered. Finding the right watering schedule can take a bit of trial and error, but be patient.
- Cotton requires soil with plenty of compost. Make sure your soil is very healthy before planting this plant. You’ll need at least an inch (2.5 cm) of compost, though more would also be helpful. There’s no shortage of cheap, readily available compost options, so make sure to not skip this step.
If growing cotton is legal in your state, it can be an interesting project to attempt with your children. It’s a unique and fun way of teaching them where clothes come from and helping them develop a love for gardening all at once.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cotton is not a flower, botanically speaking. The cotton “boll” is actually the fruit of the plant, where the plant holds its seeds. However, in flower arrangements, cotton is still treated like a flower, which is why the cotton “fruit” is best known as the cotton flower.
Cotton is technically a tree. However, to make it easier to use cotton commercially, it is continuously pruned and prevented from growing tall. Instead, it is kept at about shrub height.
However, if you were to let cotton grow unencumbered, it would eventually grow into a tree.
Cotton wasn’t traditionally white – it was naturally available in several colors, including pink and green. Because white cotton is easiest to use for commercial purposes, today, most cotton grown is white.
However, it is still possible to find naturally colored cotton in a variety of colors, and these varieties of cotton can serve as an eco-friendly alternative to artificially dyed cloth.
You can eat some kinds of cottonseed. Most cotton varieties have seeds that are poisonous to humans. This is because the seeds contain a chemical called gossypol, which we cannot digest. Cottonseed can be used as cow feed, however, because cow’s stomachs can digest this chemical.
Additionally, cottonseed is used to make cottonseed oil, which can be used for cooking. However, although cotton seeds are a good source of protein, they remain generally toxic to humans.
The only exception is glandless cotton varieties, which do not contain the gene for producing gossypol. This is a genetically modified variety of cotton being looked at for its use as a food source worldwide and can safely be consumed by humans.
Final Thoughts
Cotton flowers symbolize maternal love, wealth, and strong marriages, and are linked to death and the afterlife. They make for beautiful – and unique – additions to floral bouquets and tattoos. However, before growing these flowers in your backyard, make sure to check your local laws and ensure it is legal to do so in your state.
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