{{Short description|Wreath made of branches and leaves of the bay laurel}} {{use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} [[File:LaurelwreathDK.JPG|thumb|A laurel wreath decorating a memorial at the Folketing, the national parliament of Denmark.]] A '''laurel wreath''' is a symbol of triumph, a wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel ({{Lang|la|Laurus nobilis}}), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is worn as a chaplet around the head, or as a garland around the neck.
Wreaths and crowns in antiquity, including the laurel wreath, trace back to Ancient Greece. In Greek mythology, the god Apollo, who is patron of lyrical poetry, musical performance{{efn|Specifically, Apollo was the patron of musical performance on the kithara, a professional, heavy-body member of the lyre family; the lyre itself was a folk-instrument. When so-engaged himself, he was called ''Apollo Citharoedus'', roughly "Apollo the musician". Wind instruments were normally in the purview of other deities, such as Pan.}} and skill-based athletics, is conventionally depicted wearing a laurel wreath on his head in all three roles.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Wreaths were awarded to victors in athletic competitions, including the ancient Olympics; for victors in athletics they were made of wild olive tree known as ''"kotinos"'' ({{math|{{Lang|grc|κότινος}}}}),<ref name="LSJ">{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Liddell |first=Henry George |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dko%2Ftinos |title={{math|κότἲνος}} |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |encyclopedia=A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1843 |isbn=978-0-19-864226-8 |edition=1 |location=Oxford, UK |author-link=Henry Liddell |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref> (sc. at Olympia) – and the same for winners of musical and poetic competitions. In Rome they were symbols of martial victory, crowning a successful commander during his triumph. Whereas ancient laurel wreaths are most often depicted as a horseshoe shape, modern versions are usually complete rings.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}
In common modern idiomatic usage, a laurel wreath or "crown" refers to a victory. The expression "resting on one's laurels" refers to someone relying entirely on long-past successes for continued fame or recognition, whereas to "look to one's laurels" means to be careful of losing rank to competition.<ref name="oxford">{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/look+to+one%27s+laurels___1 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131060602/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/look+to+one's+laurels___1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 January 2013 |title=Look to one's laurels (''sense 1'') |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionaries |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |access-date=13 November 2012}}</ref>
==Background== thumb|Apollo and Daphne Apollo, the patron of sport, is associated with the wearing of a laurel wreath.<ref name="Paulson-Eisenman-2007">{{Cite book |last=Paulson |first=Ronald |url=https://archive.org/details/sinevilmoralvalu0000paul |title=Sin and Evil: Moral values in literature |last2=Eisenman |first2=Peter |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0300120141 |location=New Haven, CT |url-access=registration}}</ref> This association arose from the ancient Greek mythology story of ''Apollo and Daphne''. Apollo mocked the god of love, Eros (Cupid), for his use of bow and arrow, since Apollo is also patron of archery. The insulted Eros then prepared two arrows—one of gold and one of lead. He shot Apollo with the gold arrow, instilling in the god a passionate love for the river nymph Daphne. He shot Daphne with the lead arrow, instilling in her a hatred of Apollo. Apollo pursued Daphne until she begged to be free of him and was turned into a laurel tree.<ref name=Paulson-Eisenman-2007/>
Apollo vowed to honor Daphne forever and used his powers of eternal youth and immortality to render the laurel tree evergreen. Apollo then crafted himself a wreath out of the laurel branches and turned Daphne into a cultural symbol for him and other poets and musicians.<ref name=Paulson-Eisenman-2007/>
== Academic use == {{See also|Doctoral hat}}
thumb|An actress performing a play. She wears an ivy wreath and stands in front of a statue of a woman from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (room 21, The British Museum, London) In some countries, the laurel wreath is used as a symbol of the master's degree. The wreath is given to young masters at the university graduation ceremony. The word "laureate" in 'poet laureate' refers to the laurel wreath. For example, the greatly admired medieval Florentine poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri is often represented in paintings and sculpture wearing a laurel wreath.
In Italy, the term ''laureato'' is used in academia to refer to any student who has graduated. Right after the graduation ceremony, or ''laurea'' in Italian, the student receives a laurel wreath to wear for the rest of the day. This tradition originated at the University of Padua and has spread in the last two centuries to all Italian universities.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}}
[[File:Latin Poet Ovid.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ovid with laurel wreath, common in poets]]
At Connecticut College in the United States, members of the junior class carry a laurel chain, which the seniors pass through during commencement. It represents nature and the continuation of life from year to year. Immediately following commencement, the junior girls write out with the laurels their class year, symbolizing they have officially become seniors and the period will repeat itself the following spring.<ref name="CTColl-comct-trad">{{Cite web |title=Commencement Traditions |url=https://www.conncoll.edu/at-a-glance/history-traditions/traditions/commencement-traditions/ |access-date=13 February 2019 |website=Connecticut College}}</ref>
At Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, laurel has been a fixture of commencement traditions since 1900, when graduating students carried or wore laurel wreaths. In 1902, the chain of mountain laurel was introduced; since then, tradition has been for seniors to parade around the campus, carrying and linked by the chain. The mountain laurel represents the bay laurel used by the Romans in wreaths and crowns of honor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Loomer |first=Jennifer |last2=Underwood |first2=Katherine |year=2003 |title=Traditions: Laurel Parade |url=http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hatlas/traditions/parade.htm |access-date=28 February 2012 |website=Mount Holyoke Historical Atlas: Traditions of Mount Holyoke College |publisher=Mount Holyoke College |place=South Hadley, Massachusetts |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126132442/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hatlas/traditions/parade.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
At Reed College in Portland, Oregon, United States, members of the senior class receive laurel wreaths upon submitting their senior thesis in May. The tradition stems from the use of laurel wreaths in athletic competitions; the seniors have "crossed the finish line", so to speak.<ref name="Hernadez">{{Cite magazine |last=Hernadez |first=Romel |url=https://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/sallyportal/posts/2013/the-turning-of-the-thesis.html |title=The Turning of the Thesis |date=7 May 2013 |magazine=Reed Magazine |publisher=Reed College |location=Portland, Oregon |access-date=2013-05-07}}</ref>
At St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, students who successfully complete three years of one classical language and two of the other earn the distinction of the Classics Diploma and the honor of wearing a laurel wreath on Prize Day.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}}
In Sweden, those receiving a doctorate or an honorary doctorate in subjects traditionally falling within the Faculty of Philosophy (meaning philosophy, languages, arts, history and social sciences, as well as the natural sciences), receive a laurel wreath during the ceremony of conferral of the degree.{{Citation needed|date=June 2016}}
In Finland, in University of Helsinki a laurel wreath is given during the ceremony of conferral for master's degree.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is the Conferment Ceremony? – The conferment ceremony of the Faculty of Philosophy |url=https://fil-promootio.helsinki.fi/en/what-is-conferment-ceremony/ |access-date=2022-11-11 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Architectural and decorative arts motif == [[File:Franz II. (I.),Denkmal, Wien.jpg|thumb|Bronze monument to Francis II, the last Holy Roman emperor, wearing a ''corona triumphalis'' laurel wreath]] [[File:Alexander Garden Grille fragment3.JPG|thumb|left|Alexander Garden Grille]]
The laurel wreath is a common motif in architecture, furniture, and textiles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/domesticarchite00archgoog |title=Domestic Architecture: Containing a history of the science, and the principles of designing public edifices, private dwelling-houses |publisher=G. Virtue |year=1841 |page=[https://archive.org/details/domesticarchite00archgoog/page/n224 200]}}</ref> The laurel wreath is seen carved in the stone and decorative plaster works of Robert Adam, and in Federal, Regency, Directoire, and Beaux-Arts periods of architecture. In decorative arts, especially during the Empire period, the laurel wreath is seen woven in textiles, inlaid in marquetry, and applied to furniture in the form of gilded brass mounts.
Alfa Romeo added a laurel wreath to their logo after they won the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925 with the P2 racing car.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TUBWAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Romano+Cattaneo%22 |title=Autocar & Motor |date=August 1990 |publisher=Haymarket, Pub., Limited |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Fusi |first=Luigi |title=Alfa Romeo—Tutte le vetture dal 1910—All cars from 1910 |publisher=Emmeti Grafica editrice |year=1978 |edition=3rd |location=Milan |language=it}}</ref> {{clear}}
== As used in heraldry == [[File:CNT Emblem.svg|thumb|upright|A laurel wreath in the emblem of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist labor union, the CNT.]] {{Commons category-inline|Laurel wreaths in heraldry}}
'''Laurel wreaths''' are commonly used in heraldry. They may be used as a charge in the shield, around the shield, or on top of it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heraldic meanings |url=http://www.americancollegeofheraldry.org/achsymbols.html |access-date=13 February 2019 |website=American College of Heraldry |archive-date=19 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719030400/http://www.americancollegeofheraldry.org/achsymbols.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Wreaths are a form of headgear akin to circlets.<ref name=BruceDraconarius-2014-06-08/>
In heraldry, a twisted band of cloth holds a mantling onto a helmet. This type of charge is called a "torse". A wreath is a circlet of foliage, usually with leaves, but sometimes with flowers. Wreaths may also be made from oak leaves, flowers, holly and rosemary; and are different from chaplets. While usually annular, they may also be penannular like a brooch.<ref name="BruceDraconarius-2014-06-08">{{Cite web |last=Baron Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, Batonvert [S.C.A. pseudonym] |date=8 June 2014 |title=Wreath |url=http://mistholme.com/dictionary/wreath/ |access-date=2019-09-17 |website=Mistholme |department=Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry}} The name "Baron Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme, Batonvert" is the author's pseudonym in the Society for Creative Anachronism.</ref>
In the Society for Creative Anachronism, laurel wreaths are reserved for use in the arms of a territorial branch, which are required to include one or more.<ref name=BruceDraconarius-2014-06-08/>
== Film publicity == thumb|upright|Example of film festival laurels on a film poster '''Laurel wreaths''' are used by motion pictures to indicate recognition by film festivals.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tostevin |first1=Jason |title=Festing On Your Laurels |url=https://medium.com/filmfreeway/festing-on-your-laurels-e892cce1822e |work=Medium |date=22 May 2019}}</ref>
Prestigious film festivals often receive thousands of submissions with only a handful of slots available for as low as a 1% acceptance rate at top tier festivals, while smaller festivals will have better odds at around 10%. Film buyers, distributors, and critics know that film festival programmers are hired for their taste and ability to curate a program that its audiences trust, and for a film to be selected to show at those festivals can validate a relatively unknown filmmaker as one they believe is worth watching.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Piccione |first1=Christopher |title=How to Submit to Film Festivals: Tips from an Industry Screener |url=https://www.adorama.com/alc/how-to-film-festivals/# |website=Adorama |date=14 January 2025}}</ref>
Independent films without recognizable actors or studio films seeking art house credibility will advertise the selection and screening by festivals by placing laurels with the recognition given by the festival on their key art,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Teo |first1=Damien |title=The Laurels Guide |url=https://www.sinema.sg/2011/06/20/the-laurels-guide/ |website=Sinema |date=20 June 2011}}</ref> however the predominance of festivals means that there are also unscrupulous festivals with high submission fees and guaranteed rewards that offer desperate filmmakers the ability to claim selection by said festival.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McLachlan |first1=Gregg |title=Filmmakers, Protect Your Reputation: Beware of Shady Film Laurels |url=https://workcabinfilms.ca/filmmakers-protect-your-reputation-beware-of-shady-film-laurels/ |website=WorkCabin Films |date=8 February 2025}}</ref>
Veteran filmmakers know that even if well they are already known, the recognition of a prestigious festival for a premiere will often serve to provide valuable earned media to drive viewers to the box office.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Rebekah Louisa |title=How To Get Selected For An A-List Festival |url=https://www.thefilmfestivaldoctor.com/how-to-get-selected-for-an-a-list-festival/ |website=The Film Festival Doctor |access-date=16 April 2025}}</ref>
== Wreath of service == thumb|Wreath of Service The "wreath of service" is located on all commissioner position patches in the Boy Scouts of America. This is a symbol for the service rendered to units and the continued partnership between volunteers and professional Scouter. The wreath of service represents commitment to program and unit service.<ref name="GEC">{{Cite web |title=The History of Commissioner Service |url=https://www.gec-bsa.org/program/commissionerservice/history |access-date=2006-06-09 |publisher=Golden Empire Council of the Boy Scouts of America |location=Sacramento, California|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028091017/https://www.gec-bsa.org/program/commissionerservice/history |archive-date=2007-10-28 }}</ref>
==Further reading== *{{Cite web |last=Carruthers |first=Emile |date=2017-05-04 |title=The Ancient Origins of the Flower Crown |url=http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/the-ancient-origins-of-the-flower-crown/ |access-date=2019-02-14 |website=The Iris |publisher=The Getty |ref=2017-05-07}}
== See also == {{div col |colwidth=8em |content= * Civic Crown * Corolla (headgear) * Grass Crown * Kether * Klila * Laureate * Mural crown * Naval crown * Nobel laureate * Olive wreath * Polos * Coat of arms of Greece * Crown of Immortality * Five crowns * Halo * Velificatio * Wreaths and crowns in antiquity }}
==Footnotes== {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist|25em}}
== External links == {{commons category|Laurel wreaths}} {{wiktionary|rest on one's laurels}} {{wikisource|A Complete Guide to Heraldry/Chapter 18}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurel Wreath}} Category:Wreaths (attire) Category:Visual motifs Category:Architectural elements Category:Headgear in heraldry Category:Clothing in ancient Rome Category:Plants in culture