Nasturtium Meaning: The Flower of Victory
Capucine · Indian cress
Botanical name: Tropaeolum majus · Family: Tropaeolaceae
Fiery orange and red flowers above round, shield-like leaves: the nasturtium is cheerful, tough and even edible. Its botanical name means "trophy".
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What it means
Nasturtiums stand for victory and conquest. The botanist Linnaeus named them Tropaeolum after the Greek tropaion, a victory trophy, because the round leaves looked like shields and the flowers like helmets.
What the colours mean
- Orange — enthusiasm, adventure and creativity
- Red — courage and passionate determination
- Yellow — optimism and good humour
- Cream — gentle warmth and appreciation
- Variegated forms — spontaneity and cheerful individuality
When to give it
- Congratulations on a win
- Exam results
- A promotion
- Before a big match or interview
- To cheer someone on
Perfect for:
Who should you give it to?
- An adventurous friend
- Someone facing a challenge
- A creative cook or gardener
- A person celebrating a courageous choice
When not to give it
- Sympathy or condolence. Its fiery colours are celebratory.
- A romantic message. It says "you won", not "I love you".
Short messages to send with it
“For your courage, spark and unstoppable spirit.” Use this →
“Here’s to the next colourful adventure.” Use this →
“Keep growing boldly in your own direction.” Use this →
Where it grows
Nasturtiums come from the Andes of South America, around Peru. Spanish explorers brought them to Europe in the 16th century, and they quickly became garden favourites.
How it came to India
Garden nasturtium is native to the Andes of South America. Spanish and other European plant exchange carried it to Europe, where it became both an ornamental and an edible garden plant. Seeds later reached India through colonial-era nursery and botanical-garden networks. Because nasturtium grows quickly and is easy to raise from seed, it spread through winter gardens without leaving a clear record of one first introduction. Indian gardeners adapted it as a cool-season annual, especially in the plains where summer heat is too strong for prolonged flowering.
Where to find it in India
The nasturtium is a classic winter annual in north and central Indian gardens. It is sown in autumn and flowers through the cool months until the heat of March or April, and it often appears at winter flower shows. In hill stations it flowers into the summer.
Season and blooming time
Nasturtiums prefer cool to mild weather. In most Indian plains they are winter annuals, sown in autumn and flowering from December into early spring; in cooler regions they can continue longer.
In culture
Claude Monet planted nasturtiums along the main path of his garden at Giverny, where they spill across the walkway every summer.
History and symbolism
The round leaves reminded botanists of shields and the flowers of blood-stained helmets, giving nasturtium its old association with victory in battle. Native to South America, it later became loved worldwide as an ornamental whose leaves, flowers and seeds are edible.
The story behind this flower
When Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who gave the world its system of scientific names, looked at the nasturtium, he saw a battlefield. In ancient Greece and Rome, victors hung the shields and helmets of the defeated on a tree trunk as a trophy, a tropaion. The nasturtium's round leaves looked like shields to him and its flowers like blood-stained golden helmets, so he named the genus Tropaeolum. The flower had one more story to give his family. In 1762, his daughter Elisabeth Christina von Linné reported to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that at dusk the orange flowers seemed to give off tiny flashes of light. For a while people suspected electricity. Today it is understood as an optical effect, the eye reacting to the bright orange against fading light, and it is still called the Elisabeth Linnaeus phenomenon. A flower named for victory, and noticed for flashing at sunset: a fitting thing to send someone who has just won.
Did you know?
- Both the leaves and the flowers are edible and taste peppery, like watercress.
- Water beads up and rolls off the leaves, much like on a lotus leaf.
- The name "nasturtium" was borrowed from the watercress genus because of the shared peppery taste.
Questions
What does a nasturtium mean?
Victory and conquest. It is the flower for congratulations.
Is a nasturtium good for exam results?
Yes. Its name literally means "trophy".
Can you eat nasturtium flowers?
Yes. The leaves and flowers are edible and peppery, like watercress.
When do nasturtiums grow in India?
In the plains they are winter flowers, sown in autumn and blooming until spring.
Why is it called Tropaeolum?
Linnaeus saw the round leaves as shields and the flowers as helmets on a victory trophy (tropaion).
Other flowers
Illustration: Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Choix des plus belles fleurs (1827), plate 74. Public domain.