Edelweiss..the Mark of a True Soldier

The Edelweiss, also known as the "Leontopodium Alpinium" for you geeks out there, is a flower found commonly in European countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Spain. The word "Edelweiss" derives from the German word Edel(noble) and Weiss(white).

Well, why would a guy like me talk about flowers? Actually, I never really know much about the flower besides the song derived from it's namesake. I never actually seen one before until one scene in the WWII series "Band of Brothers".



As you would know later on in the clip, German soldiers during WWII would make a climb to trees to get an Edelweiss flower. It supposed to be "the mark of a true soldier".

(Don't ask, I don't know, I don't wanna know)

What really attracted me to this particular flower, is the name. Literally it means "Noble white".
Now white is a symbol of purity, adding the word "noble" makes it even better. In fact, Austria, on St. Valentine’s Day, it is traditional for a man to present a woman with a bunch of edelweiss, the implication being that he has risked his life climbing up to where the flowers grow. Not only that, GM versions of the flower is grown commercially at lower altitudes, but I have a feeling that it is primarily for those who are to afraid to climb trees.

(Cleary he does not have any problem with that)

Ah yes, the song.....Edelweiss...Edelweiss... it is a scout song by the way. And my troop has a way of singing the songs with hand clapping. It's very interesting, but our version may lack the soft and melodious flow of the original from "Sound of Music"



I particulary like the last line,"Bless my Homeland forever". It's the line I always sing out loud. And not only that, it'll be cool to give a girl a bunch of Edelweiss on Valentines Day, something different from roses don't you think? Haha....