as a symbol of peace and solidarity with the Ukrainian people

FromTime“The ubiquitous presence of the sunflower in the villages and countryside of Ukraine has made it an unofficial national symbol,” 1993 Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Throughout Ukraine’s history, the flower has been used as a symbol of peace. In June 1996, to celebrate Ukraine giving up nuclear weapons, U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian defense ministers planted sunflowers in a ceremony at southern Ukraine’s Pervomaysk missile base.

More than 25 years after that ceremony, Russian and Ukrainian ministers are at war, but the meaning of the sunflowers as symbols of peace has not changed, as the cropping up of sunflowers worldwide has become a call on leaders to plant the seeds again for a more peaceful future.