Symbolism in Eastern European Embroidery: The Differences and Similarities in Different Countries
- Adeline Panamaroff
- Apr 5
- 5 min read
Eastern European countries like Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania share many material culture similarities. This stems from a shared spiritual heritage that has seen expression through one of the most fundamental aspects of culture around the world, the embroidery used on clothing and textiles.
While the Slavic cultures of Europe have similar origins, it is through centuries of regional cultural evolution that variations and unique meanings have been in development in the styles, symbols and colors utilised in these embroidery traditions.
Since per-Christian times, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania have had nature based belief systems. Repeating geometric designs have been the most common elements used on clothing since then.
In Ukrainian tradition, circles are representative of the sun, the life force of all things. Represented as a circle, it can also be seen as the symbol of life’s unending cycle, into eternity. When it is stitched with a dot in the middle, it can represent the center of the universe, or if rays are extended out from the shape, it can mean the wearer wishes to share their strength and energy. If the circle is enclosed by rays that come to its center, this portrays a desire to collect energy, embodying a sense of emptiness in the wearer.
In Romania, the circle, with a cross or star inside, also represents the sun, or the movement of time, as the sun is the ‘wheel of the sky.’
Squares, in Ukrainian stitching, are of the earthly realm. Having four equal sides, they show harmony and structure. Four is also a sacred number, pointing to the four directions, north, south, east and west, and the seasons. When stretched with a cross in the middle of it, the square takes on the meaning of a field of land.
The tree of life, a mystical plant portrayed in many cultures of the world, for Ukrainians is another symbol of the universe. With a tall trunk, many branching limbs full of flowers, leaves and birds, and crowned with a large flower, the tree displays the 3 levels of the world. The roots are the past, the trunk, the present, and the top canopy, the future. Common to central Ukraine, the tree has been stylized through time to also be stitched as shafts of wheat, vines or even as a pregnant woman, the mother goddess. This design is usually reserved for larger household items, though smaller variations can be seen on the standard vyshyvanka, usually for women.
In Hungarian textile tradition, the tree of life has been stylized even further, now being seen as a vase of flowers or lines of winding vines. Even single tulip plants have come to be used as symbols of the tree. Here, the roots of the plant, represent the underworld, and there they emerge from the earth, the gateway into that realm, the stem or vase, the human plane, and the crown of flowers the heavenly realm. The presence of birds in the foliage of the tree, often looking like down turned flowers, has an association with death.
Bulgarian embroidery culture also has its own version of the tree. Often stitched on shirts and sweaters, this plant is depicted as a single stemmed flower, with similar meaning as found in other countries of the region.
Hungarian embroidery has largely moved away from geometric designs, and now uses life-like representations of flowers. Each flower has its own meaning, like the tulip: femininity, lily of the valley: cheerful love, or sunflowers: the desire for spiritual enlightenment.
Ukrainian textile tradition holds that diamonds are symbols of the complete pairing of the male and female halves. Women, in pagan times, were seen as embodying the 3 corners of the home, while men occupied the fourth corner, completing the family unit. When a dot is present in the center of the diamond, a sown field is being shown, representing wishes for a fertile lively hood. A divine toad-like creature is depicted when curved protrusions are stitched from the outer edges of the diamond. This creature is a bringer of life giving water, important for those fertile fields.
Also called rhombuses, diamond patterns in Romanian culture historically represented the sky god. Remaining a popular motif, this shape has taken on the meaning of a force of nature and stitched in repeating rows on shirt sleeves, collars and cuffs.
Triangles have the meaning of three in Ukraine. The elements, air, water, fire; the afterlife, earth and the divine; and the Christian trinity in modern times, are all elements of the unit of three. When the tips of two triangles come together, like an hourglass, this can also symbolize life and the afterlife. In the Middle Dnipro and Slobozhanshchyna regions, this symbol, with a line sewn between the shapes, is common, representing a reflection of this world into the next.
Similar to the single triangle is the katanitza in Bulgarian embroidery. This arrangement of 6 interconnected triangles represents the generations of the family. The lowest triangle being the generation that has just passed, the wider midsection, the current generation, and the single triangle on top as the generation to come.
Zig-zag lines in Ukrainian embroidery, when sewn vertically can mean rainfall. Horizontally they can mean heavenly moisture. They also recall the movement of the earth around the sun, on a spiral path, reflecting the movement of time.
In Romanian tradition, the zigzag line represents lightning, often seen as borders on the edges of larger bands of stitching running down the length of sleeves.
In the realm of colour palettes, Bulgarians hold red in high regard. Reminding the wearer of their mother’s blood, red symbolises the continuing cycle of life and protects against evil forces. Yellow is the colour of the sun, fire and destiny, while green is part of the tree of life, and eternity. White is seen as youthful, pure energy and of the divine.
In the Polissia region of Ukraine, Volhynia to Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts, red is associated with beauty and life, as well as protects against evil. Black has connections to the earth, a family’s ancestors and the cyclical nature of life. Green and blue represent the forest and the sky.
While this only scratches the surface of the rich symbolism within the embroidery traditions of Eastern Europe, hopefully it has piqued your interest to learn more.
Sources
GreatBlouses.com. “Signs and symbols in Romanian embroidery.” 2025. https://greatblouses.com/en/content/16-signs-and-symbols-in-romanian-embroidery?srsltid=AfmBOorx5HteQQbb8r_2eLUbTkWDiWMQZan-qFpvIIVLjowl4DU9VOx4
Lőrincz, Anett. “The beauty and legacy of Hungarian embroidery.” Europeana, 2025
Hungarian Embroidery. “Folk art embroidery: the meaning of the embroidered flowers.” 2025. Folk art embroidery: the meaning of the embroidered flowers
Montiglio, Daniel. “The Secret Symbols In The Bulgarian Embroidery.” The Foreigner, 2025. https://www.foreigner.bg/the-secret-symbols-in-the-bulgarian-embroidery/
PrettyShepherd. “Traditional E\embroidery exposed Hungarian art origins and meaning.” YouTube. 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF_l7gshEKg
Ukrainian Media Sources. “Secret ancestral codes: 12 main symbols in Ukrainian embroidery.” Euromaidan Press, 2025.
Viva Textile. “Hungarian embroidery: sophisticated and unique fashion.” 2025. Hungarian Embroidery: Sophisticated And Unique Fashion
Vzne-Vzne. “Polissia embroidery: symbols and unique ornaments of the region.” 2025. https://vzhe-vzhe.com/en/blog/vyshyvka-polissya-symvolika-ta-unikalni-ornamenty-regionu/
