Symbolism? Sunflowers say „Cheese“!
The sun was a divine symbol long ago, as it was the source of light and life. Because of this, many people have elevated it to a god. As sunflowers look like little suns, in their original homeland America they were considered a symbol of the sun gods. The Priestesses of the Aztecs e.g. wore crowns of sunflowers to pay homage to the sun god Huitzilopochtli. But not only gods, even worldly rulers claimed in the course of history the sun symbol for themselves. For example, the Sun King Louis XIV, who engraves even coins with sun and sunflower in the zenith of his power. In Christianity, the sunflower became the symbol of Christ's resurrection. And last but not least, the sunflower was also a sign of the hippie movement. - In short: In the ancient world, the sunflower was a synonym for sun, light, life, fertility, health and wisdom; in later monarchies it was a symbol of power, wealth, devotion and loyalty; in Christianity it stands for vitality and eternal life; and the hippie movement made of it the symbol of development, freedom and openness.