So you picked up a bouquet from LOOKOUT at Rainbows Festival. But you're asking yourself: what does it mean?

In your hands, you're holding various blooms of queer history. These flowers are part of a language that LGBTQ+ people have been using for centuries to signal identity, desire, and community, dating back to Greek literature.

Long before rainbow flags, pins, or corporate Pride merch, flowers were the queer code. Certain blooms told others that you’re family. Others whispered desire. Some marked rebellion.

From violets in the poetry of Sappho to green carnations worn by Oscar Wilde, and pansies lighting up underground drag clubs in 1920s New York, flowers carried messages that words couldn’t.

Your bouquet includes a mix of these historic blooms — lavender, violets, pansies, roses, and green carnations. Each has a story, each has a meaning, and now it’s your turn to decode it.

Share the results of your quiz. Take a picture with your bouquet, and tag @lookout_news, and we’ll feature some of our favorites in our upcoming newsletter — so the story continues through you.

You’re already part of LOOKOUT’s community — you signed up for our newsletter to get your bouquet. But if you want to go deeper, support local LGBTQ+ journalism, and help us keep telling these stories, consider becoming a paid member. We’re not a corporate newsroom. We’re building something different, and it only works if people like you back it.

The code never really disappeared — it was just waiting for you to learn it.