Flowers are among the best gifts you can give your partner on your wedding anniversary. Classically romantic flowers, such as roses, or a bouquet of your partner’s favourite flowers are always good options, but did you know that many anniversaries also have their own symbolic flower?
Just as each key anniversary has a traditional gift, such as leather for a third anniversary or lace for a thirteenth, there’s a traditional anniversary flower for every year up to year 15, and then for years 20, 25, 30, 40 and 50.
Not every year has a traditional flower, unfortunately. So in this article, we’ll explore what the traditional flowers are for key anniversaries, plus a few extras at the end. If you’re wondering what flowers you should get for your next anniversary, hopefully you’ll find the answer below!
And in the meantime, if you're shopping for wedding anniversary flowers, be sure to check out our Anniversary Flowers collection.
Traditional wedding anniversary flowers by years together
1st anniversary flower: Carnation
With delicate, ruffled petals that come in an array of stunning hues (and are sometimes even two-toned), it’s no wonder carnations are among the most popular cut flowers in the world.
Carnations are available all year round, so whether you were married in spring, summer, autumn or winter, you should have no trouble finding carnations to gift to your partner on your 1st wedding anniversary.
While you can certainly buy single-variety bunches of carnations, you’ll usually find these underrated blooms serving as filler flowers in larger bouquets. However, their long vase life means they often outlast the focal flowers by several days, or even weeks! We love them as an alternative to peonies for this reason.
Carnations represent a few different things, including commitment and devotion, distinction, fascination and a mother’s love. They’re also the birth flower of January and the official flower of Mother’s Day.
The flower’s meaning can also change depending on the colour of the petals. Red carnations symbolise passion and romance. Pink carnations symbolise gratitude, love, femininity and friendship. But yellow carnations represent rejection, disappointment and regret! So, with that in mind, you’ll probably want to avoid giving yellow carnations to your partner in celebration of your 1st anniversary.
You’ll find carnations in several bouquets here at Floraly, including The Paris, The Maddie, The Freyja and The Marissa, as well as in our Sophie Posy.
2nd anniversary flower: Cosmos
Give your significant other more than just the world! For your 2nd anniversary, give them the cosmos. Or at least, the cosmos flower!
These dainty blooms come in pretty shades of pink, yellow, red, lilac and pure white, and all of them have a golden yellow centre. There’s even a chocolate-brown variety, which has a subtle chocolatey scent!
Cosmos flowers are so named because of the orderly nature of their petals—it’s just like the order and harmony of the universe, or the cosmos! Because of this, cosmos flowers are said to be symbolic of order and harmony, too. This makes them a perfect gift for 2nd anniversaries; once the honeymoon phase is over, married couples may find themselves in a comfortable, orderly routine in life, and in perfect harmony with each other.
Cosmoses are also one of the birth flowers for the month of October, alongside the marigold.
3rd anniversary flower: Sunflower
Perhaps our favourite flower here at Floraly HQ, the sunflower is also the traditional flower of 3rd anniversaries. These brilliant, sunshiney blooms inspire happiness in all of us and can be an instant mood booster for anyone who receives them.
Sunflowers have a lot of meanings. They symbolise loyalty and devotion, as well as resilience, longevity, optimism, adoration, friendship and, of course, happiness. All of these lovely meanings make the sunflower an ideal flower for gifting your partner on your 3rd anniversary.
At Floraly, you’ll find single-variety sunflower bunches, which we send in bud so that they bloom at home and last longer. You’ll also find sunflowers in our Isolde bouquet, which is named after the romantic legend of Tristan & Isolde.
5th anniversary flower: Daisy
Some may think the daisy a simple springtime garden flower, but this cheerful bloom is so much more than that. It’s the traditional flower of 5th wedding anniversaries, a milestone which is hardly simple.
The way daisy petals radiate outwards in all directions from the centre of the flower is said to be symbolic of all the ways a couple will continue to grow, while maintaining a strong, solid foundation at the heart of their marriage.
In the language of flowers, daisies are said to be symbols of forever love and fidelity, as well as purity, admiration, new beginnings, cheerfulness and childbirth.
10th anniversary flower: Daffodil
A 10th wedding anniversary is an extraordinary milestone, so it makes sense for the flower that represents it to be equally extraordinary. Enter: the daffodil.
Daffodils symbolise resilience, hope and joy, all perfect matches for 10th wedding anniversaries.
Daffodils are among the first flowers to arrive in the spring, having weathered the winter to bloom anew on the other side. If you’ve made it a decade in marriage, it tracks that you, too, have likely weathered a few winters, but that the resilient bond of marriage has helped you make it through. This should give plenty of hope for a joyful future together.
Daffodils are also the official birth flower of the month of March.
15th anniversary flower: Rose
And now, the flower you’ve all been waiting for… the worldwide symbol of romance and love and passion: the rose, the official flower of a 15th wedding anniversary.
No flower symbolises romantic love quite like the red rose. So if you’re celebrating a huge 15 years of marriage, we’d definitely recommend giving your partner a bouquet of the best and most beautiful long-stemmed red roses. You’ll find those here at Floraly!
Pink roses are another great choice, symbolising love, friendship and happiness. You can shop single-variety pink roses in our collection, too. For the best of both worlds, there’s our Rosa bouquet, which is a mix of pink and red roses.
You’ll also find roses in a number of other bouquets in our range, including The Paris, The Ellie and The Freyja, any of which would make a wonderful 15th wedding anniversary gift for your partner.
20th anniversary flower: Aster
This once-sacred flower is today more often considered a garden weed, but we’re here to tell you that these cousins to daisies do not deserve that title! Just because they’re resilient and thrive in conditions other flowers can’t doesn’t make them weeds. In fact, we’d argue it makes them the perfect symbol for the platinum anniversary.
Purple asters symbolise wisdom, which is fitting when you consider all the knowledge you and your partner have gained in your two decades together. White asters symbolise purity and loyalty, a perfect symbol of the loyalty you and your partner have shown to each other. Lastly, pink and red asters symbols deep love and unyielding devotion, like the kind you and your partner must have for each other after 20 years of marriage!
Asters are also one of the birth flowers for the month of September.
25th anniversary flower: Iris 
Also one of three February birth flowers, the iris is the official 25th (or silver) anniversary flower. Irises are extraordinary in that they’re one of the very few flowers that express true blue hues. In addition to blue, irises also come in purple, yellow and white, all with a yellow throat.
While the symbolic meaning of irises can vary depending on colour, the overarching meanings of iris flowers are faith, hope, wisdom and trust. When you’ve made it to 25 years of marriage, it’s likely due to a combination of these four things, and love, of course!
If you’re looking for the perfect 25th anniversary bouquet, look no further than our Iris bouquet.
30th anniversary flower: Lily
Fragrant and timelessly elegant, lilies are the official 30th anniversary flower. Representing purity, life, rebirth and remembrance, these classy blooms are perfect for marking such an important moment.
As with other blooms on this list, the symbolic meaning of lilies can change depending on the colour. Pink lilies symbolise prosperity, as well as love and compassion. Like red roses, red lilies symbolise love and passion. The classic white lily represents purity and rebirth.
A word of caution: lilies are extremely toxic to cats, so consider this before giving them to your partner if there are cats in the home.
What is the 35th anniversary flower?
While there is no traditional flower for a 35th anniversary, coral is the traditional gift for this milestone. You could interpret this by giving your partner coral-coloured flowers, such as coral roses, coral ranunculus or coral snapdragons.
40th anniversary flower: Gladiolus
An impressive anniversary needs an impressive flower to represent it, so it’s a good thing the sword-like gladiolus is the traditional 40th anniversary flower. These fancy blooms are Dame Edna’s favourite flower, and they’re also one of the birth flowers of August.
Gladioli symbolise infatuation, faithfulness, integrity and strength of character, making them a perfect choice for the 40th anniversary flower.
50th anniversary flower: Violets & Yellow Roses
Also called the golden anniversary, such a momentous occasion is celebrated with not one, but two flowers. The traditional flowers of a 50th wedding anniversary are violets and yellow roses.
Other anniversary blooms
As we mentioned above, there are traditional anniversary flowers for each year up to year 15. We’ve done our best to explore the key ones, but for your reference, the anniversary flowers we haven’t delved more deeply into are:
- 4th anniversary flower: Geranium
- 6th anniversary flower: Calla Lily
- 7th anniversary flower: Freesia
- 8th anniversary flower: Clematis
- 9th anniversary flower: Poppy
- 11th anniversary flower: Morning Glory
- 12th anniversary flower: Peony
- 13th anniversary flower: Chrysanthemum
- 14th anniversary flower: Dahlia
Beyond the 50th anniversary
Most anniversary flower lists stop at 50, because there’s no official flower for anniversaries beyond the 50th. But we thought we’d take things a little further, and nominate a few anniversary blooms ourselves.
55th anniversary flower: Tulip
If you’ve been dying to know what flower is given for a 55th anniversary, we’re here to help! As they are symbols of perfect and deep love, we’ve decided to make the tulip our 55th anniversary flower.
Tulips have similar meanings to roses when broken down by colour. Red tulips symbolise love and passion, pink tulips symbolise care and affection, white tulips symbolise honour and respect, and yellow tulips symbolise hope and happiness.
Essentially, this means tulips of any colour would make a perfect anniversary gift for your partner, whether you’re celebrating a 55th wedding anniversary or any other anniversary.
You can shop our Mixed Tulips bunch for pure tulip perfection, or find them in several of our bouquets this season, including The Amity and The Ava, as well as our Remi Posy.
60th anniversary flower: Zinnia
For our 60th anniversary flower, we’ve chosen the zinnia. Zinnias symbolise everlasting love, affection and endurance, making them (in our opinion) a perfect choice for such a mammoth anniversary. So if you’re struggling to find out which flower represents a 60th wedding anniversary, go with zinnias!
65th anniversary flower: Alstroemeria
What’s the flower for a 65th anniversary, you ask? Well, just like the 35th, 45th and 55th anniversaries, there is no traditional flower for a 65th wedding anniversary. But such an incredible and rare anniversary should be celebrated with flowers to match, and we’ve got the perfect bloom.
We’ve chosen alstroemeria as our 65th anniversary flower, because a marriage that has lasted that long deserves an equally long-lasting flower! Alstroemerias last up to three weeks in a vase, and continue to bloom throughout that time.
Alstroemeria is one of our favourite flowers here at Floraly, because of how long it lasts and how beautiful it is. You’ll find alstroemeria flowers in several of our bouquets, including The Marissa, The Ellie and The Maddie.
70th anniversary flower: Chrysanthemum
To make it 70 years in marriage is an incredible feat of love, friendship, faith, trust and resilience. That’s why we’ve chosen one of the longest-lasting cut flower varieties to be our 70th wedding anniversary flower: chrysanthemums. Even though they’re traditionally the 13th anniversary flower, we like them even more for a 70th anniversary!
These popular blooms come in a number of different types and colours, from big mumma disbud chrysanthemums to spherical pom-pom chrysanthemums to dainty daisy chrysanthemums.
We feature chrysanthemums a lot in our bouquets here at Floraly because of their beauty and longevity. Some examples of our bouquets that feature chrysanthemums include The Paris, The Emily, The Wanda and The Amity.
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Flowers are the ultimate anniversary gift, no matter how many years you and your wife or husband are celebrating together. Mark the special occasion with a beautiful bunch of blooms from our range.
