Dixya Poudel

The world today is appalled by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The news feed is filled with people throughout the globe uniting in support of Ukraine. As such, sunflower which is the national flower of Ukraine has become a symbol for the world peace and harmony. It has become a global symbol of hope, resistance and solidarity. Artists have painted bright yellow sunflowers in myriad different media and posted them on the internet. Activists further have added sunflowers to their hairs and wardrobe.

If one is to go back in history, sunflowers were planted in Pervomaysk missile base in southern Ukraine in the year 1996. They were planted as an observance of the removal of nuclear arms from the nation. The Washington Post had then reported, “The ceremony celebrated Ukraine’s abandonment of the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, which it inherited in the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.” Decades later, sunflowers have become a beacon of hope at a time when Ukrainians are losing their faith in humanity.

Signs and symbols are a form of non-verbal communication and they are used in cases when verbal communications don’t have the desired effect. Often a person’s facial expression, tones in speech and body language convey a larger part of the message in comparison to the verbal speech. Likewise, there are barriers in language such as semantic and linguistic barriers that often cause ambiguity in expression while obstructing the contextual meaning in speech.

Then there are socio-psychological barriers in verbal communication such as the lack of attention in the listeners, personal bias and selectivity. The latter is the ‘you only see what you want to see’ attitude that creates much confusion due to the lack of clarity. During these cases, signs and symbols can remedy the situation and ease feelings of mistrust, ambiguity and uncertainty.
For example, a heart is a symbol of love. People add a heart emoji in their texts to express their love for one another. It is a symbol that is universally acknowledged and considered one of the most endearing of expressions. Likewise, a dove is a symbol of peace which is flown in inaugurations or peace treaties. Additionally, signs and symbols are used in ballots during elections. They are used to better facilitate the voting process as they are easily understood and comprehended by voters.

When people are in delicate situations where they don’t comprehend the language and customs, non-verbal communication can be of great help. Most of the signs and symbols are universally known which is why they aid in communication in the times of distress. They are used in cases where one way communication is effective and important messages have to be conveyed in an easy and adequate manner.

Extraordinarily, the world peace today has become universally synonymous with vivid yellow sunflowers. From the fields and gardens to global representations, sunflowers now stand for an expression of support for Ukraine. Where words may fail, sunflowers will unanimously support the Ukrainians in the social media and give voice to the voiceless in Ukraine, bloom as an opposition to the wreckage of war and symbolise a call for peace, justice and humanity.