Flower Costume Baby

Jersey's Battle of the Flowers

Every August since 1902 the island of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, comes alive with its own flower parade. Originally conceived as a way of celebrating the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, the parade has been suspended only during the First World War and again during the Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. The success of the first parade was such that it was repeated the next year and thus the tradition was established for all to enjoy.

The parade was originally made up of horse drawn floats which were covered with massive floral decorations and in the first parades it was natural for the men of the island to take flowers from these displays and throw them to a lady in the crowd. Occasionally, flowers were either thrown back from the crowd, or they were thrown from the crowd to people in the procession - whichever the case, the tradition of the Battle was born.

Although the parade and battle continued as an island event, it was not until the start of the 1950's that a group of local businessmen decided that the Battle of the Flowers could become a major focus for both the both the community and the tourism industry which was starting to grow.

With the continued growth of the event as a major tourist attraction, the concept of throwing flowers between the procession and the crowd, and from the crowd to the procession, was abandoned from the 1964 parade onwards. Today the major focus of the battle is towards the fierce competition between each of the groups preparing their float in-order to win the most coveted and prestigious award, the Prix d'Honneur. Although there are numerous awards to compete for, the Prix d'Honneur is the major title and is awarded for the best 40-45 foot long float decorated using only natural flowers.

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