The national flower of Greece, Tunisia, and Cyprus. This kind of flower symbolizes the pride of the Greek nation and the prosperity of the country. When the competition is held, the olive branch is used as the crown to reward the winners. The olive branch is also used as a symbol of peace. Tunisia, North Africa, is rich in olives, known as the "world olive garden". The national flag of Cyprus is printed with two green olive branches, which are regarded as the symbol of peace, wisdom and victory.
The olive branch is the branch of the olive tree, which is the national tree of Greece. The original plant is a small evergreen shrub of Selaginellaceae, with beautiful tree shape and luxuriant branches and leaves. It was introduced in 1960s in China, and now it is cultivated as a garden ornamental plant in many areas. Every year, small white flowers open in September, and the fruit ripens from green to red in October.
Pigeon and olive branch: the origin of peace symbol
There is a story in the New Testament: there was once a man named Noah. One day, he heard the voice of God. God said that because of people's sins, there will be floods to exterminate the world. God told him to build a big ship, saying that he could escape from death. So Noah and his son built a large ship in the shape of a rectangular wooden ark, called an ark. When the flood came, the Noah family boarded the ark, and took the lion, the tiger, the rabbit, the duck, the butterfly and other animals on board.
The water was getting bigger and bigger. A few days later, the stream became a torrent, the mire became a great lake, and the ark was floating back and forth on the rough water. After many days, the rain stopped, but the flood did not go away, and the ark stopped at the top of a high mountain. Noah opened the cage and released a little Gray dove. But the pigeon soon flew back, flapping its wings in front of the cage. After a few days Noah released the dove again. This time, when the pigeon came back, he took a new olive leaf out of his mouth. Noah knew that the flood had completely receded and that peace had come. He got off the boat with his wife, son and grandchildren, and walked up to the top of the mountain in the early morning. The animals also followed them out of the ark. In front of them, it is no longer a raging flood, but a valley full of green trees and a mountain path full of flowers on both sides.
Later, people used pigeons and olive branches to symbolize peace.
