Universal Symbols of Love: Meanings Across Cultures and History

Discover the most powerful and timeless symbols of love from around the world. Explore their origins, meanings, and cultural significance throughout history.

Love is the most essential and beautiful feeling a person can experience. But at the same time, it is the most mysterious. The best minds of humanity have tried to understand its nature. Since ancient times, people have endowed this feeling with special symbols, and each nation has had its own archetype of love.

Today, most countries turn to classical symbols, but national images have not lost their meaning. Hearts, doves, swans, and cupids are not the only symbols of love found across different cultures. Let’s find out more about symbols of love across cultures and history.

Symbols of Love and Fidelity in Different Countries

​​These symbols were important in their era as a form of expression of love and devotion, and many have retained their meaning to this day and are used in pop culture:

Heart

It’s the most popular symbol of love all over the world. People draw a heart pierced by an arrow and give cards with hearts on Valentine’s Day. The heart was chosen as a symbol of deep feelings for a reason. Everyone wants to believe in eternal love, ending with the last heartbeat.

But love isn’t one-size-fits-all. We all express and receive love in different ways—through words, touch, gifts, quality time, or acts of service. If you want to better understand your emotional needs and desires or connect more deeply with your partner, take the free and insightful Love Language Test at https://breeze-wellbeing.com/love-language/ to discover how your heart speaks. It only takes a few minutes, but the insight can last a lifetime. ​​When partners speak each other’s love language, emotional connection grows, and conflicts often decrease. Even if you’re single, understanding your love language may guide you in future relationships and self-care.

Swans

Another popular and well-known symbol is a pair of swans, which symbolizes fidelity for life. These birds form a couple once in their lives, and if one of them dies, the second may die from grief.

Doves

Or rather, a pair of doves. In this symbol, people see a lifelong attachment. There are many versions of its origin, one of which is that the goddess Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, loved doves.

Two wedding rings

This is a symbol of love, marriage, and a mature relationship that leads to the creation of a family. The ring is a circle, a symbol of infinity. Even the finger chosen to wear the ring is not random. It is the artery of the ring finger that leads directly to the heart.

Cupid

Cupid is best known as the god of affection, desire, and erotic love in Roman mythology.

The son of Venus and Mars, Cupid is depicted as a young boy playfully armed with a bow and arrows that pierce people’s hearts, causing them to fall in love with each other.

Today, Cupid has become the symbol of Valentine’s Day. His image is found everywhere, from ancient stucco to images on newlyweds’ cars.

In art, Cupid is often depicted as a blindfolded boy, representing the idea that love is blind.

Red rose

A deep red rose has long symbolized passion and bright feelings. The homeland of this symbol is very difficult to determine, and the assumptions are very contradictory. One opinion says that the symbol comes from Egypt and belonged to the goddess Isis. It was the rose that was the flower of this goddess.

The second option is associated with the goddess Venus and her lover Adonis. According to legend, the goddess fell in love with a handsome young man, but he died while hunting. After his funeral, beautiful red roses bloomed on the grave, symbolizing the couple’s immortal love.

Symbols of the different Nations

Each country has its own national signs of love. Traditional symbols originated in ancient times. Their roots go back to folk legends and beliefs. National symbolism was formed under the influence of the cultural and mental context, so it is not always understandable outside the country. Here are the most famous symbols of love and marriage of different nations:

China

There are so many love symbols in the country that it is not so easy to figure out which is the main one. To express their feelings, the Chinese present peonies to their lovers. These delicate flowers promote mutual understanding.

A popular symbol of love is the butterfly. A pair of butterflies indicates mutual love. Butterflies at a wedding celebration are believed to be a good sign, promising the newlyweds boundless happiness.

The Chinese often give mandarin ducks to a newly formed family to strengthen the union. These birds, like swans, create pairs only once. According to legend, they once even saved the marriage of a Chinese emperor: he intended to leave his wife, but on a walk, he saw the trembling courtship of mandarin ducks and changed his mind, remembering his past feelings for his chosen one.

Japan

Lovers in the Land of the Rising Sun revere storks. This bird symbolizes fidelity. Storks choose a mate for life and build a nest together, and take care of the chicks. The Japanese use the image of this monogamous bird in wedding ceremonies.

The stork is also a symbol of longevity. The image of the birds is an “encrypted” wish for the newly married couple to live together until old age, preserving their love and fidelity.

France

Couples from different corners of the world come to France to confess their love and propose at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The building has long been a symbol of romance and deep feelings.

But the French themselves confess their love differently: the love symbol here is the royal lily. There used to be a tradition: after proposing, the groom would bring a royal lily to the bride every day until the wedding, thereby expressing his love.

India

Hindus consider jasmine to be a symbol of love. There is a beautiful legend about the unrequited love of Princess Jasmine for the God of the Sun. Unable to bear the suffering from unrequited feelings, the girl ended her life.

Upon learning of the tragedy, the God of the Sun was upset and turned her ashes into a beautiful tree. According to legend, when jasmine blooms, the girl’s soul flies freely. It is no coincidence that the flowers bloom only at night: Jasmine does not want to disturb her lover.