This term originated as a synonym for hippie, especially among the idealistic young people who gathered in San Francisco and the surrounding area during the Summer of Love. It was the custom of ‘flower children’ to wear and distribute flowers or floral-themed decorations to symbolize the ideals of universal belonging, peace, and love. The mass media picked up on the term and used it to refer in a broad sense to any hippie. Flower children were also associated with the flower power political movement, which originated in ideas written by Allen Ginsberg.
Flower child is a term coined by Californian disc jockey Lord Tim Hudson who stated "Anyone aged between 15 and 30 is a flower child". The term was later adopted by Sky Saxon of American rock band the Seeds who were managed by Hudson. He persuaded the band to write songs such as "March of the Flower Children" on their album Future (1967). The term "flower child" was then applied broadly to the hippie subculture by the mass media. It was the custom of "flower children" to wear and distribute flowers or floral-themed decorations to symbolize ideals of universal belonging, peace, and love. Flower children were also associated with the flower power political movement, which originated in ideas written by Allen Ginsberg in 1965.
English
Noun
flower child (plural flower children)
- (US, historical) A hippie involved with the flower power movement.
See also
- flower girl