Rushnyky: Band Symbol
Tree of life motifs can run horizontally instead of vertically and most bands of flowers are essentially horizontal tree of life motifs With the exception of very branchy motifs, most people do not consider the horizontal bands to be trees of life. Rather, they focus on the flowers in the band. What they consider important here is the type of flower selected: each blossom has a meaning, or a set of meanings, that represents a desired quality. For example:
Bluebell: fragile beauty, gentleness
Carnation: mature beauty, often used on funeral towels
Cornflower: fertility, fragile beauty
Elderberry blossom: fertility, intoxication, pleasure
Pansy: happiness, often used to represent children
Periwinkle: permanence, eternity, longevity (periwinkle is an evergreen)
Poppy: beauty, love, the intoxication of love
Pumpkin flower: fertility, fecundity, wealth, prosperity
Rose: robust beauty, vigor
Sunflower: fertility, prosperity, abundance
Kalyna (the rowan tree): longing, healing, often used on towels for soldiers killed in battle and other unquiet dead
