Un brin de muguet ? (a stem of lily of the valley ?)
Hier, c'était le 1er mai. En France, on offre du muguet et on défile dans les rues. C'est surtout un jour férié pour les Français.
Do you know why French people give a stem of lily to their loved one the first day of May ? It's a tradition that comes from the 16th century, when a king, Charles IX of France, was given a stem of lily for good luck. He was so pleased with this gift that he decided to make it a new tradition by offering stem of lily to every girls in his court. It's now symbol of love, luck and symbol of labour as well.
Labour day is more recent and brings us back to the end of the 19th in the USA where social movements started (No, not in France for once !) The flower used a symbol at the time was red (eglantier) but by the time of WWII and during the provisional government of France, red was associated with communism. (not a good thing at the time) So they changed it for lily of the Valley.
Do you have flowers like muguet that have a particular meaning in your country ?