Lotus Flower Symbolism Across Cultures and Religions

Few plants carry as much meaning as the lotus. It appears on temple walls in India, in tomb paintings in Egypt, in Chinese poetry, in Japanese New Year food and in modern yoga studio logos. Each culture tells its own story about the flower, yet the stories share a surprising amount.

This article looks at how the lotus flower has been symbolized in each major tradition. For a theme-by-theme reading (purity, rebirth, resilience and so on), see our companion piece on the symbolic meaning of the lotus flower.

Why the lotus became a symbol

Symbols usually grow out of what people can see. The lotus offers three striking sights:

• It rises from mud but stays clean. Its leaves shed water and dirt, so a spotless flower stands above murky water.
• It opens with the sun. Lotus and water lily flowers open in the morning and close later in the day, matching the sun's daily cycle.
• It returns every year. The plant vanishes in winter and comes back from hidden roots, and its seeds can wait centuries before sprouting.

Purity, light, creation and rebirth, the main lotus meanings, all follow from these facts.

Lotus symbolism in Hinduism

In Hindu tradition the lotus is called padma or kamala, and it is linked with creation, beauty, wealth and divine presence.

• Creation: in a well-known story, a lotus grows from the navel of the god Vishnu, and the creator god Brahma is born seated on it. Vishnu is therefore sometimes called Padmanabha, "lotus-navel."
• Lakshmi: the goddess of prosperity and good fortune is usually shown standing or seated on a pink lotus and holding lotus flowers. One of her names, Kamala, simply means lotus.
• Saraswati: the goddess of knowledge and the arts is often shown on a white lotus, which links the flower with learning and pure thought.
• Body and mind: in yoga and tantra, the body's energy centres (chakras) are drawn as lotuses with set numbers of petals. The crown chakra is the "thousand-petalled lotus." The seated meditation posture is padmasana, the lotus position.

The lotus is the national flower of India, and the phrase "lotus-eyed" or "lotus-feet" is a traditional way of praising beauty and holiness in poetry and prayer.

Lotus symbolism in Buddhism

Buddhism took the lotus as one of its central images. The flower's journey from mud to light became a picture of the human path from confusion to awakening.

• The Buddha's birth: tradition says that when the infant Siddhartha took his first seven steps, a lotus sprang up under each one.
• Thrones of awakening: Buddhas and bodhisattvas are shown seated on lotus thrones, a sign that they have risen above the world while remaining in it.
• Scriptures: one of the most important Mahayana texts is the Lotus Sutra. The famous Tibetan mantra Om mani padme hum is often translated as "the jewel in the lotus."
• The eight auspicious symbols: the lotus is one of the eight auspicious signs of Tibetan Buddhism, standing for purity of body, speech and mind.
• Colour meanings: many teachers assign different meanings to white, pink, red, blue and purple lotus flowers. We cover these in lotus flower meaning by colour.

The Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh (1926–2022) summed up the Buddhist view in the title of his book No Mud, No Lotus: suffering and beauty grow from the same ground.

Jainism and Sikhism

Jain art often shows the tirthankaras (spiritual teachers) on lotus pedestals, and the red lotus is the emblem of Padmaprabha, the sixth tirthankara. In Sikh scripture the lotus is used as an image of a person who lives in the world without being stained by its desires, just as the lotus lives in water without being wet.

Ancient Egypt: the lotus of the sun

The Egyptian "lotus" was actually a water lily, mainly the blue Nymphaea caerulea and the white Nymphaea lotus. Because the blue flower opens in the morning and sinks closed in the afternoon, Egyptians tied it to the sun god and to the idea of rebirth.

• In one creation account, the young sun rises out of a lotus floating on the first waters.
• The god Nefertem, associated with perfume and healing, was shown with a lotus on his head.
• The lotus was the emblem of Upper Egypt, while papyrus stood for Lower Egypt. Intertwined lotus and papyrus showed the united kingdom.
• Tomb paintings show guests at banquets holding lotus flowers to their noses, and a famous painted wooden head of the young king Tutankhamun shows him emerging from a blue lotus.

China: integrity and harmony

In China the lotus (lián or hé) is admired as the flower of the honest person. In the eleventh century the scholar Zhou Dunyi wrote a short essay, "On the Love of the Lotus," praising the flower for growing out of mud without being stained and for standing straight and unbending. Since then the lotus has been the emblem of an upright official who resists corruption.

Chinese wordplay adds more layers. Lián sounds like words for "continuous" and "integrity," and hé sounds like "harmony." Lotus seeds (liánzǐ) suggest "children one after another," so they appear in wedding foods and good-luck pictures for a happy family.

Japan and Vietnam

In Japan the lotus (hasu) is strongly tied to Buddhism and the Pure Land, so it is seen at temples and in funeral and memorial art. Lotus root (renkon) is a traditional New Year food: its holes are said to let you "see through" to a clear future.

In Vietnam the lotus (sen) is the national flower and a symbol of purity, calm and resilience. It appears in architecture, painting and everyday life, and lotus-scented tea is a respected delicacy.

Greece and the West: forgetting and dreaming

In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus's men land among the Lotus-eaters and taste a sweet fruit that makes them lose all wish to return home. This "lotus" was probably a fruit tree, not the water flower, but the story gave Western languages the idea of the lotus as a symbol of dreamy forgetfulness. Victorian poets returned to the theme often.

Lotus symbolism today

• Architecture: the lotus-shaped Bahá'í House of Worship in New Delhi, the lotus-bud towers of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Macau's Golden Lotus Square all use the flower as a sign of welcome and spirit.
• Wellness and yoga: the lotus is now a common logo for yoga, meditation and spas, standing for calm and inner growth.
• Tattoos and jewellery: lotus designs often mark recovery, a new start or personal growth after hard times.
• Flags and emblems: the lotus appears on the flag of Macau and in the emblems of several organisations and political parties in South Asia.

Comparison: one flower, many readings

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