{Flowers Revisited}: Carnations

Please see the Introduction To Rabbit Hole Legend A-Z post for information about sources and purpose 

 Also, please see "Flowers" for more symbolism of flowers related to the Beatles, the ultimate flower children.

Carnation: In the movie, Magical Mystery Tour, the end segment involves a song-and-dance number called, Your Mother Should Know. In this, the Beatles are seen wearing white tuxedos and all but Paul wear a red carnation in the lapel. Paul has a black carnation...have you ever seen a black carnation? The explanation for this generally given has been that they ran out of red carnations, and only had black ones lying around, so he used that. This is despite the fact that red carnations can clearly be seen in the bouquet in his hand. He is the only one carrying flowers. Again...why did they just have black carnations lying around? You have to go through a lot of expense and effort to acquire black carnations....

"(Red) My heart aches for you, admiration." (CESS)

"For the most part, carnations express love, fascination, and distinction, though there are many variations dependent on colour. [...] Purple carnations indicate capriciousness. In France, it is a traditional funeral flower, given in condolence for the death of a loved one. In France and Francophone cultures, carnations symbolize misfortune and bad luck. Pink carnations have the most symbolic and historical significance. According to a Christian legend, carnations first appeared on Earth as Jesus carried the Cross. The Virgin Mary shed tears at Jesus' plight, and carnations sprang up from where her tears fell. Thus the pink carnation became the symbol of a mother's undying love. [...]

Some scholars believe that the name "carnation" comes from "coronation" or "corone" (flower garlands), as it was one of the flowers used in Greek ceremonial crowns. Others think the name stems from the Latin "caro" (genitive "carnis") (flesh), which refers to the original colour of the flower, or incarnatio (incarnation), which refers to the incarnation of God made flesh." <Follow link to Source>

"[Red Carnations] Their color means love, pure gratifying love. Light red carnations stand for respect and admiration while deep red, scarlet carnations have a deeper meaning, a meaning of desire and passionate love. They are used in fraternities as a symbol of loyalty and survival and they became, in 1904, the official state flower of Ohio.

Red inspires beauty, heat, strength – red is the color of the heart, and mixed up in the blooms of the carnations, it can only express one feeling – love.<Follow Link to Source>

" If you are invited to a German's house, bring a gift such as chocolates or flowers. [...] Do not give carnations as they symbolize mourning. Do not give lilies or chrysanthemums as they are used at funerals.

 Some older French retail old-style prohibitions against receiving certain flowers: White Lilies or Chrysanthemums as they are used at funerals; Red Carnations as they symbolize bad will; any white flowers as they are used at weddings." <Source>

"Black carnations are filled with mystery. They are often associated with negative things, but even though they seem dark and scary, black carnations can be quite elegant and fancy.

Black carnations are not naturally obtained flowers, they do not exist in nature as such. They are dyed or genetically modified, just like blue flowers.[...]

 Black carnations are obtained by using genetic engineering and hybridization techniques. The Australian company Florigene obtained black carnations by taking the blue pigment from the genes of a petunia and insert it in the DNA of a deep red carnation.[...]

 Black carnations are quite rare and avoided mostly because they symbolize mourning and, therefore, death. Also, there are a few stories in the folklore in which giving a black carnation to someone means that you want the death of that person." <Follow Link to Source>