Calendula, a birthday flower of January 20th

If you were born on January 20th, the Calendula is one of your birthday flowers. It is one of two birthday flowers for the date though. The other is the Ranunculus, which I also have photos and information for so I will give it a post of its own. In this post: the Calendula. In the photo of this post, taken at a shrine, they are the orange flowers.

In Japan, the calendula typically blooms from March to June, but it can also have a secondary bloom in autumn, around October to November. In Japanese it is called キンセンカ "kinsenka", but it also goes by other names such as トウキンセンカ（唐金盞花）"toukinsenka", and also the katakana version of calendula カレンデュラ.

Despite calendula’s (キンセンカ) bright, sunny appearance, its traditional flower meanings lean toward the somber — “sorrow,” “grief,” “loneliness,” and “despair.” These associations come from Western floral symbolism and even Greek mythology, where the flower’s golden petals were linked to tales of loss. Its Japanese name, meaning “golden coin flower,” reflects the round, shining shape of its blooms.