TOKYO, Japan – At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, medalists are awarded with a victory bouquet and Interflora, an international flower delivery network, reveal the deeper meaning behind the chosen flowers.

All of the flowers used for the bouquets for Tokyo 2020 are grown mainly in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games present a vital opportunity to promote these areas to a worldwide audience. There will be over 5,000 victory bouquets presented to medalists from all over the world throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games and photographs of them will stay alive in the hands of winning athletes forever.

Additionally, each bouquet will include either the Olympic or Paralympic mascot, a token or keepsake athletes can take home with them long after they keep their bouquets.

Vicky Salmon, head florist at Interflora, comments: “The beautiful bouquets being presented to the medalists at Tokyo 2020 have a deeper meaning and have been chosen carefully by the Olympic organizers in Japan. The victory bouquets include eustomas and Solomon’s seals which have been grown in Fukushima, sunflowers from Miyagi, gentians from Iwate, and aspidistras from Tokyo – all in Japan. The organizers have also spent time on the arrangement itself, with all flowers being arranged in a balanced way so each of the flowers can be seen from whichever angle the athletes hold them during their celebrations.

“The flowers have been cut with shorter stems and sit within a small bag of water in gel form to keep them fresh for as long as possible. This method should allow the flowers to stay beautiful for around 7 days.”

According to the Japanese Olympic Committee, the Japanese organizers have chosen each flower for a specific reason:

The eustomas have been grown and produced in the prefecture of Fukushima, which was drastically affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster. After the agricultural industry was halted and destroyed, Fukushima established a non-profit organization to grow flowers in a bid to fuel the hope of recovery.

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