In the language of flowers the gladiolus stands above all for strength of character, faithfulness and the piercing of the heart, sometimes given the sense of infatuation, a heart transfixed as by a sword. As the birth-flower of August it carries meanings of sincerity, integrity and generosity. Its tall, upright, sword-like spike made it a natural emblem of moral firmness and of remembrance, and it is often used in commemoration and at funerals for that reason. The whole of its symbolism grows from the single image in its name, the little sword, turning a spike of showy summer flowers into a sign of strength, honour and an unbending heart.
In the Western tradition of wedding anniversary flowers, the gladiolus is specifically assigned to the fortieth anniversary, a comparatively minor but still-observed piece of the same symbolic vocabulary that gave it its meanings of strength and constancy, a fitting flower for a milestone reached only through many years of a marriage's own endurance. Its tall one-sided spike, opening from the bottom upward over one to two weeks, also made it a practical favourite of florists, since a single stem provides a long season of usable bloom rather than a single fleeting flush.