Sunflowers in Blue & Yellow
Today there are 7.9 billion citizens of the globe. There is no doubt the invasion of Ukraine has struck the hearts of billions. It has trampled the boundaries of a peaceful society pursuing their dreams.It has also broadcast the spirit of the Ukraine community around the world as they defend their freedom, its rich culture and traditions.
Here is a simple example of their unique and beautiful spirit.
Sunflowers
Sunflowers are Ukraine’s national flower. Their folklore worships the sunflower as a symbol of warmth and the power of the sun. They are grown by families to glorify their village gardens and are cultivated as a valuable national resource encompassing over 6 million hectares of fertile land.
This represents 24,000 square miles of joyous golden fields. Ukraine’s dedication to their cultivation has created over 350 hybrids of sunflowers. They are responsible for planting and harvesting 25% of the sunflower fields on the planet.
The art of Ukraine communicates their rich reverence of sunflowers. They are embroidered on fabrics, painted on walls and furniture, and are recorded in their folk art called petrykivka.
Peace
1994 brought about a new symbolism for sunflowers in the Ukraine. Following its separation from the Soviet Union, Ukraine had the third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. They reached an agreement with the Soviet Union, called the Budapest Memorandum, where they handed over their nuclear weapons in exchange for the promise of peace and an agreement to never face an invasion. In 1996, on a Ukrainian missile base in Pervomaysk, a former missile silo was transformed into a sunflower field as sunflower seeds were ceremoniously planted where nuclear weapons once lay.
Hope
In less than a month, the sunflower has become a worldwide symbol of hope and support for Ukraine while their fields, industry and generations of knowledge are being lost as farmers are fighting for their lives.
We humbly offer our own prayer to Ukraine with a beautiful sunflower bouquet which Roland painted from life in 2019.
COURAGE to the fathers and sons,
mothers and daughters of Ukraine.
May your Light so shine that all may see,
visions of Democracy.
May your sunflowers bloom in fields
of golden light once more.
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