Columbine Tattoo Meaning

Grace, faith and folly, and the bloom always poised mid-departure.

The columbine is the nodding, spurred flower whose name means 'dove' — its clustered blooms likened to gathered doves and an eagle's talons, a flower poised always as if mid-flight or mid-departure, an emblem of grace, of faith and holy folly, and of the bittersweet posture of the departing and the mourned. To carry the columbine is to carry grace, faith and folly, and the bloom poised mid-departure — the dove-flower of the Holy Spirit and of the wise fool, the nodding bloom of grace, of folly that holds wisdom, and of the graceful sorrow of the departing.

In medieval Christian iconography the columbine was a symbol of the Holy Spirit, by way of a beautiful play on its form and name. The flower's name comes from the Latin columba, meaning 'dove' — and the dove is the traditional emblem of the Holy Spirit in Christian art. The columbine's spurred petals were seen as resembling a cluster of doves gathered together, and its nodding, downward-bending posture suggested the descent of the dove of the Spirit coming down from heaven.

The number of its blooms carried meaning too: a columbine stem bearing seven flowers was read as representing the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Through these associations — the dove-name, the dove-like form, the descending posture, the seven blooms — the columbine became a recognized emblem of the Holy Spirit in religious painting and symbolism, appearing in sacred art to signify the presence and the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit. The columbine is the dove-flower of the Holy Spirit, its form and number proclaiming the Spirit's descent and gifts. The Christian columbine is the dove of the Holy Spirit — its name from the Latin columba (dove, the emblem of the Holy Spirit), its spurred petals seen as a cluster of doves and its nodding posture as the dove's descent from heaven, with seven blooms representing the seven gifts of the Spirit, the recognized emblem of the Holy Spirit in medieval sacred art.

Aquilegia (columbine) takes its scientific name from the Latin aquila (eagle) — a reference to the curved spurs that some botanists thought resembled eagle talons. The common name comes from columba (dove) — the five spurs of the flower were seen as doves grouped together. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia distributes flowers with specific meanings; columbine is associated with foolishness and ingratitude. In medieval Christian art, the columbine represented the Holy Spirit and humility. The plant is native to meadows and woodlands across the Northern Hemisphere and blooms in late spring, its nodding, spurred flowers unlike almost anything else in the temperate garden — an immediately recognizable silhouette.

Columbine across cultures

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