Love is a noble feeling, but it's so difficult to put into words that humans have always sought alternative ways to be able to talk about it. Hence, we established symbolism with plants and animals as a way to define something that is hard to accurately explain.
Today we'll take a look at 6 animals that, one way or another, have an established symbolism with love. The reasons, as always, are different, as well as the origin of this symbolism, but in some fashion, all of them have served to express this feeling.
1. Dove
Although the first thing we associate with the dove is a symbol of peace, this bird is also linked with love. This symbolism comes from setting doves or turtledoves loose at weddings. Since marriage is the ultimate expression of love, and the dove is always present at weddings, doves are considered to be a symbol of love.
2. Penguin
Love, in most cultures, is expressed by a sense of fidelity. Penguins, when they choose a mate, do so for life, and that's why these animals are considered to be a symbol of love and romance.
3. Flamingo
Flamingos are another species in which fidelity is taken to the extreme. Not only are they loyal to a partner for life, they usually only have one sexual partner ever.
4. Swan
Never has it been so easy to discover where the symbolism of love comes from as with swans. It is enough to watch how when a pair of swans approach each other, their neck and head form the shape of a heart. To this we must add that the swan is a monogamous animal. Once it chooses a mate, it upholds that partnership until death.
5. Hummingbird
There is a Mexican superstition that says that hummingbirds as amulets are the most reliable way to obtain the favor of the gods in love. It is also believed that the vibration of its wings emits an energy that tunes into the same wave as the energies of love.
6. Deer
Although virtually all species have some kind of love ritual to procreate, few are as obvious, sonorous, and striking as the deer's bellow. Since bucks not only bellow for the attention of the doe, but also hash things out in fights that can become deadly, the deer has become a symbol of how important love has the potential to be.
Edited by Melissa K.