May Orchid: Actually More Like an Iris?

The May card is the one people most often look at and say, “Is that really an orchid?” It has long leaves, a blue flower, and something that looks like a strange wooden bridge. Today, let’s find out what it is.

May Animal

May Grass Ribbon

It’s called an orchid, but it looks more like an iris?

In Korea, the May card is called “Nancho” (orchid). But the blue flower and long leaves in the picture look like what Japanese Hanafuda calls “ayame” (a kind of iris). The name says orchid, but the picture is said to be closer to an iris. Which flower it should properly be called differs a little from one explainer to another, so here we will only say that “in Korea it is called an orchid.”

The Mystery of the Strange Wooden Bridge

On the May Animal card, there are pieces of wood laid crisscross under the flower. In Japanese Hanafuda, this part is known as a “bridge (yatsuhashi, 八橋).” It is said to show a wooden bridge by the water from an old Japanese tale. In Korean Hwatu, the picture became simpler, and it turned into a shape where it is hard to tell whether it is a bridge or just pieces of wood.

If you look closely at the card, some of you may see that the lower part of the May Animal looks like yellow and blue boxes. That is known to be what this bridge turned into.

The Four Cards of May

Completing the Grass Ribbons

The May Ribbon is the second piece of the Grass Ribbons. Together with the April and July Ribbons, it makes the Grass Ribbons. Holding this ribbon as May goes by feels reassuring, doesn’t it? For the difference from the Red and Blue Ribbons, see The Story of Red, Blue and Grass Ribbons.

The May Animal does not count toward Godori. The Godori birds are the Animals of February, April and August. In May, the flower and the bridge are the stars instead of a bird.

In a nutshell