Iris Flower Meaning: Faith, Hope, Wisdom and a Message

The iris flower meaning is faith, hope, wisdom and valour, and in the Victorian language of flowers, "I have a message for you". Irises are tall, graceful and come in nearly every colour of the rainbow, which is exactly how they got their name.

This guide covers what irises symbolize, where the meaning comes from, what each colour says, Quebec's connection to the flower and when to send irises. For the varieties florists use and the arrangements we deliver, see our iris guide.

Iris flower meaning: what irises symbolize

The core iris meanings:

• Faith and hope: above all for blue irises.
• Wisdom: a reason irises suit graduations and teachers.
• Valour and courage: an old association with kings and knights.
• A message: from the goddess Iris, the messenger of the Greek gods.
• Royalty and admiration: especially for deep purple irises.

The iris and the rainbow goddess

In Greek myth, Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and a messenger who carried word between the gods and people, travelling along the arc of the rainbow. The flower was named for her because of its many colours, and it inherited her role: an iris says you've been thinking of someone and have something to tell them.

Iris was also said to guide the souls of women to the afterlife, and it's said the ancient Greeks planted purple irises on women's graves for that reason. That's one source of the iris's quieter role as a flower of faith and remembrance.

Purple iris meaning

The purple iris meaning is royalty, wisdom, admiration and compliments. Purple irises are the most familiar kind, and the colour has long been tied to kings. The stylized fleur-de-lis of French royal heraldry is often traced to an iris rather than a lily, though historians debate it.

Art helped too. Vincent van Gogh painted his well-known Irises in 1889, shortly after entering the asylum at Saint-Rémy in southern France, and the painting has made purple irises a symbol of beauty found in hard times. A purple iris makes a thoughtful gift for a mentor, a graduate or anyone whose wisdom you admire. Spirit of Spring sets purple iris among yellow lilies and carnations.

Iris meaning by colour

Each colour adds its own shade of meaning:

• Blue: faith, hope and trust. A calm, steady colour for encouragement or sympathy.
• Purple: royalty, wisdom and compliments.
• White: purity, innocence and reverence.
• Yellow: passion and friendship, and in garden form, cheerful sunshine.
• Two-toned and bearded irises: the showy garden types carry all the iris meanings at once, with a little extra flair.

The blue flag iris: Quebec's floral emblem

Quebec's floral emblem is the blue flag iris (Iris versicolor), adopted in 1999. It replaced the white Madonna lily, which had served as the emblem for years but doesn't grow wild in the province. The blue flag is a true native: it grows in marshes, wet meadows and along lake shores across Quebec and much of eastern Canada, flowering in late spring and early summer.

The choice also fits Quebec's flag, whose white fleur-de-lis has roots in the same royal French symbol many people link to the iris. If you're sending flowers to someone proud of their Quebec roots, a bouquet with blue or purple iris carries that nod.

Irises in Canadian gardens

Irises are some of the easiest perennials to grow across much of Canada. Bearded irises, the big ruffled kind with fuzzy "beards" on their lower petals, grow from thick rhizomes that sit just at the soil surface and bloom in late spring and early summer. Siberian irises, with slimmer leaves and smaller flowers, are even hardier and cope well with cold winters and damp ground.

Most clumps need dividing every few years, usually in late summer after flowering, which is why irises are such a common plant to share between neighbours and family. A division from a parent's or grandparent's garden can carry its own meaning: a living message passed down, very much in the spirit of the goddess Iris.

When to send irises

Irises suit thoughtful, encouraging occasions:

• Graduations and new jobs, for wisdom and courage.
• Encouragement during a hard stretch, for faith and hope.
• Sympathy, where blue and white irises say faith and peace. Our guide to what kind of flowers to send for a funeral covers the rest.
• A 25th wedding anniversary, traditionally an iris year. See anniversary flowers by year.
• A February birthday, since some lists include the iris alongside the violet. See our February birth flower guide.
• A new baby boy, with blue iris for hope. A basket arrangement for a baby boy pairs blue iris with delphinium and gerberas.

Free Spirit Bouquet mixes blue iris with lavender daisies and statice, and The Share My World Bouquet pairs blue iris with lavender roses and asters. Browse more in our purple flowers and blue flowers collections.

Iris care and pets

The irises florists use are mostly Dutch irises, which open quickly from tight buds. They're shorter-lived than many flowers, usually lasting about five days to a week, so choose stems with colour just showing at the tip, keep them cool and recut the stems every couple of days. Our guide on how long flowers last has more.

The ASPCA lists irises as toxic to cats and dogs, with the bulbs and rhizomes the most harmful part. For a home with pets, see our flowers safe for cats.

Sending irises anywhere in Canada

Flowers on Demand delivers across every province and territory through a network of local florists, who arrange and hand-deliver each order. Delivery is a flat $19.99. For same-day delivery, order before 1:00 PM in the recipient's time zone, Monday to Saturday; there's no Sunday delivery.

Start with our iris arrangements, or find the town you're sending to on our delivery cities page. Local florists occasionally swap a stem for one of similar style and value when a flower is short, so if one flower matters most, say so in the card or delivery note.