The Forgetmenot

The Forget Me Not Flower

The Forget Me Not is the common name for a small blue flower of the genus myosotis. Myosotis is a combination of 'mus' (mouse) and 'otis' (ear). That name refers to the shape of the leaves.

The name myosotis originates from the Ancient Greek μυοσωτίς meaning "mouse's ear", which the flower is said to resemble. It is also known as Scorpion Grass.

The Forget Me Not is the official flower of Alaska and of Dalsland in Sweden. Plants of the genus are commonly confused with Chatham Islands' forget-me-nots which belong to the related genus Myosotidium.

They are a popular food source for butterflies.

The Forgetmenot

The Name

According to Greek mythology, the supreme god Zeus thought he had given all the plants are name, whereupon the small blue flower shouted “forget me not!”. TThus Zeus decided to make life easy for himself by appointing the plant that very name.

A European mediaeval legend has a French knight picking a bunch of flowers for his beloved, loosing his balance he fell into the water and promptly sank because of the weight of his armour. As he drowned, he threw the flowers to his beloved shouting, “Forget me not”.

Forget Me Nots and Freemasonry

Forget-me-nots have a strong symbolic value and flower is said to represent fidelity and never-ending love. Alzheimer Societies around the world have adopted it as their symbol of memory loss.

In Freemasonry the Forget Me not has been relatively recently adopted as the symbol of remembrance for masons persecuted and murdered in Germany and occupied territories in WW2 by the Nazis.