International Women’s Day on March 8th is one of the most significant dates in a florist’s calendar — but the story behind it is far richer and more layered than many realize. Understanding the history doesn’t just make for good conversation with customers; it helps you choose flowers with genuine meaning and intention.
The Seeds of a Movement: Late 19th Century
The roots of International Women’s Day stretch back to the labour movements of the late 19th century, a time when industrialisation was transforming the Western world. Women — many of them immigrants — were working gruelling hours in garment factories, textile mills, and food processing plants across the United States and Europe, for a fraction of men’s wages and with no legal protections.
The flower trade itself was not immune to this exploitation. Many of the women who would go on to march for their rights were the very same hands that bundled blooms in cold market warehouses or stitched silk flowers onto hats in cramped tenements. There is a poetic symmetry, then, in the fact that flowers became the symbol of their movement.
The First Sparks: 1908 New York
On March 8th, 1908, around 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City. They were demanding shorter working hours, better pay, the right to vote, and an end to child labour. Many carried flowers — tulips, carnations, and simple wildflowers — as symbols of both femininity and resilience. The march was organised largely by the Socialist Party of America and drew women from garment districts throughout the city.
The shirtwaist industry was central to this moment. New York’s Lower East Side was packed with factories producing blouses, and the women who worked there — many of them Jewish and Italian immigrants — were some of the most politically active in the country. The following year, in 1909, the Uprising of the 20,000 saw shirtwaist workers strike for thirteen weeks in one of the largest labour actions by women in American history to that point.
The International Declaration: 1910 Copenhagen
In August 1910, the second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. It was here that the German socialist activist Clara Zetkin made a landmark proposal: that an International Women’s Day be established and observed annually across the world. Zetkin was a passionate advocate for women’s suffrage and workers’ rights, and her proposal was unanimously adopted by delegates from seventeen countries.
Zetkin did not specify a fixed date at this stage — that came later — but the principle was clear: one day each year, across national borders, would be devoted to the cause of women’s equality.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: 1911
No account of International Women’s Day’s origins is complete without the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25th, 1911. A fire broke out on the upper floors of the factory, and because the managers had locked the exit doors to prevent workers from taking breaks, 146 garment workers — the vast majority of them young immigrant women — died. Many jumped from the windows. The public outpouring of grief was enormous, and the disaster galvanised the women’s labour movement like nothing before it.
Florists ever since have used this moment as a quiet touchstone when customers ask why March carries such weight for women’s history. White carnations, long associated with mourning and remembrance, are a fitting tribute to the women lost that day.
The Date is Fixed: Russia, 1913–1917
International Women’s Day was first observed on March 19th in Germany and Austria in 1911, drawing over a million attendees to rallies and marches. It shifted to different dates in different countries over the following years. In Russia, women began observing the day on the last Sunday of February according to the Julian calendar.
Then came a pivotal moment. On February 23rd, 1917 (which corresponded to March 8th on the Gregorian calendar used in the West), women textile workers in Petrograd went on strike, demanding bread and an end to the First World War. Their strike triggered a chain of events that led within days to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II — what became known as the February Revolution. Women’s collective action had helped topple a dynasty.
In recognition of this extraordinary moment, the date of March 8th was formally adopted as International Women’s Day and recognised by the Soviet Union in 1921. It gradually became the date observed internationally.
The UN and Global Recognition: 1975 Onwards
International Women’s Day remained primarily a socialist and labour movement observance for much of the 20th century, but in 1975 — designated International Women’s Year by the United Nations — the UN officially began celebrating it on March 8th. By 1977, the UN General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8th as the official UN Day for Women’s Rights and World Peace.
From this point, the day transcended its political origins and became a global celebration, observed by governments, corporations, schools, and communities worldwide. And with that globalisation came the full flowering, so to speak, of its association with gifts of flowers.
The Flower Connection: Why We Give Blooms
The association between International Women’s Day and flowers has multiple threads. In many parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, where the day has been celebrated for over a century, it has long been customary for men to give flowers to the women in their lives — mothers, wives, sisters, colleagues — much as one might on Mother’s Day in Britain or the US. In countries like Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, March 8th is one of the single biggest days for flower sales of the entire year, rivalling Valentine’s Day.
The flowers most traditionally associated with the day are:
Mimosa — Bright yellow mimosa (Acacia dealbata) is the iconic flower of International Women’s Day in Italy, where the day is called Festa della Donna. After the Second World War, Italian feminists chose mimosa because it bloomed in early March, was hardy and resilient, and grew freely in the wild — accessible to everyone regardless of class. Men across Italy give sprigs of mimosa to women on this day.
Red and yellow tulips — In many Eastern European traditions, tulips signal the arrival of spring and the renewal of hope. Their upright, bold form has made them a natural emblem of strength.
Carnations — Particularly the red carnation, long associated with the labour movement and socialist politics, holds deep historical resonance. In some countries, red carnations are pinned to lapels as a mark of solidarity on March 8th.
Violets — Historically associated with suffrage movements in both the US and UK (along with green and white), violets carry quiet political symbolism that many customers appreciate knowing about.
Daffodils — In the UK context, daffodils bridge International Women’s Day with the broader arrival of spring, and their cheerful resilience makes them a popular accessible choice.
Notes for the Florist’s Shop Floor
Knowing this history opens up meaningful conversations at the counter. Customers buying flowers for International Women’s Day often appreciate hearing that they are participating in a tradition over a century old — one born not from a greeting card company but from women who marched in the cold demanding dignity.
You might consider offering story cards with arrangements explaining the mimosa tradition, or creating heritage bunches that combine the historically significant flowers: mimosa, red carnation, violet, and tulip together in one statement arrangement.
Window displays in early March can draw on the movement’s visual language — bold reds and yellows, suffragette purple, green, and white — giving your shop a depth of narrative that sets it apart from a generic springtime display.
Most importantly, International Women’s Day is a reminder that flowers have never been merely decorative. They have been carried in protest marches, laid at the feet of the fallen, given in solidarity, and grown by the hands of working women throughout history. That story lives in every stem you sell in March.