Mother’s Day Symbols in Different Cultures Around the World

While honoring mothers is a universal practice, the symbols, dates, and traditions associated with Mother’s Day vary beautifully across cultures. Here’s a guide to how different societies celebrate and symbolize maternal love around the globe.

Western Traditions

Carnations are the quintessential Mother’s Day flower in North America, with their symbolism dating back to the holiday’s founder, Anna Jarvis. Pink carnations represent a living mother’s love, white carnations honor deceased mothers, and red carnations symbolize admiration. In recent decades, roses, lilies, and mixed bouquets have also become popular.

Heart-shaped gifts and cards express love and appreciation, often featuring messages of gratitude. The color palette typically includes soft pinks, purples, and pastels, representing gentleness and nurturing.

Breakfast in bed has become an iconic symbol of reversing traditional maternal caregiving roles, allowing mothers to rest while being served.

United Kingdom and Ireland

Mothering Sunday, celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent, has different origins than American Mother’s Day. Simnel cake, a fruit cake with marzipan layers, is the traditional symbol. The eleven marzipan balls on top represent the apostles (minus Judas), though the cake itself symbolizes the sweetness mothers bring to life.

Violets and primroses were traditionally gathered by children as spring flowers for their mothers, representing the renewal and growth mothers nurture.

Latin American Celebrations

In Mexico, Mother’s Day (Día de las Madres) on May 10th features mariachi serenades, with families hiring musicians to sing Las Mañanitas to wake mothers with music. Roses are the primary flower, but the celebration itself—with extended family gatherings—symbolizes the central role mothers play in family unity.

Peru and other Andean countries incorporate native flowers like the kantuta (the national flower) into celebrations, alongside carnations. The maternal figure is often symbolized through connection to Pachamama (Mother Earth), reflecting indigenous worldviews.

Asian Perspectives

China celebrates Mother’s Day with tiger lilies (wàng yōu căo 忘憂草), literally “forget-worry grass,” symbolizing the wish for mothers to be free from concerns. The day lily carries similar meaning and is deeply rooted in Chinese poetry and culture.

Japan honors mothers on the second Sunday of May with red or pink carnations, adopted from Western tradition. However, the deeper cultural symbol is the omamori (protective amulet) that mothers traditionally give children, now sometimes reversed as children give mothers health and happiness charms.

Thailand celebrates Mother’s Day on August 12th, the birthday of Queen Sirikit. Jasmine (dok mali ดอกมะลิ) is the official Mother’s Day flower, representing maternal purity and love. People wear blue clothing to honor the Queen, as blue is the color associated with her birth day of the week.

South Korea celebrates Parents’ Day on May 8th rather than separate mother and father days. Red carnations are the primary symbol, and children traditionally pin them on their parents’ chests as a sign of respect and gratitude.

Middle Eastern Traditions

In Egypt and much of the Arab world, Mother’s Day falls on March 21st, the spring equinox. Gold jewelry, particularly necklaces, symbolizes the precious and enduring nature of a mother’s love. Jasmine and roses are common floral gifts.

The open palm or Hand of Fatima often appears in Mother’s Day gifts, representing protection, blessings, and feminine power across Islamic cultures.

African Celebrations

Ethiopia celebrates Antrosht, a multi-day festival honoring mothers when the rainy season ends. Families gather for a large feast, and the celebration’s symbol is the communal meal itself, featuring a hash of various ingredients that mothers and daughters prepare together.

In South Africa, Mother’s Day follows the Western date but incorporates protea flowers alongside traditional carnations, celebrating both maternal love and African identity.

European Variations

France presents mothers with flower-shaped cakes (gâteau en forme de fleur) alongside fresh flowers. The tradition emphasizes handmade gifts from children, making the symbol of maternal appreciation the child’s creative effort itself.

Germany celebrates Muttertag with spring flowers, particularly tulips and daffodils, symbolizing renewal and the life-giving nature of motherhood.

Poland’s Mother’s Day on May 26th features colorful bouquets and a tradition of children performing songs and recitations at school celebrations, making children’s voices and performances a living symbol of gratitude.

Indian Subcontinent

While Western-style Mother’s Day is celebrated in urban areas, traditional respect for mothers is embedded in daily practice. Touching a mother’s feet as a gesture of respect is a profound symbolic act. The lotus flower represents maternal purity and divine femininity.

During Durga Puja, the celebration of the mother goddess, the symbolic honoring of the divine feminine extends to all mothers, with red and gold colors representing power and prosperity.

Indigenous and Pacific Traditions

In Australia, alongside conventional celebrations, Indigenous communities honor the concept of mother country and connection to land. Native wattle flowers (golden blooms) may be used alongside or instead of imported flowers.

New Zealand incorporates koru (spiral fern frond) patterns in Mother’s Day gifts, symbolizing new life, growth, and the nurturing relationship between generations in Māori culture.

Modern Universal Symbols

Photographs and memory books have become global symbols of preserving and celebrating maternal bonds across all cultures.

The mother and child silhouette appears in artwork and cards worldwide, representing the universal image of maternal protection and love.

Handprint art, where children press painted hands onto paper or gifts, symbolizes the physical and emotional imprint mothers and children leave on each other’s lives.

From Ethiopian communal feasts to Thai jasmine, from British simnel cakes to Chinese day lilies, Mother’s Day symbols reflect each culture’s unique values and natural environment. Yet they all converge on a single truth: the need to honor, celebrate, and express gratitude for the irreplaceable role mothers play in our lives. These diverse traditions remind us that while the symbols may differ, a mother’s love is recognized and cherished in every corner of the world.