Google Doodle celebrates Persian New Year Nowruz with flowers

The Google Doodle for March 21 celebrates Nowruz

Google is celebrating the Persian New Year, Nowruz, with a Doodle in full bloom. Google Doodles are temporary changes to Google’s search bar logo that are made to commemorate special holidays, festivals and people. The Google Doodle for March 21 shows flowers and foliage to symbolise the arrival of Spring – as Nowruz is celebrated on spring equinox.

What is Nowruz?

Nowruz is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Although it has its roots in the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism, Nowruz has been celebrated by different communities for more than 3,000 years, making it more of a cultural celebration rather than a religious one. This joyful festival is celebrated across the Middle East, the South Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, and Northern, Western, Central, and South Asia.

Nowruz celebrations differ according to the country and communities that celebrate it. Traditional customs include cleaning the house for a fresh start, ritual dances, gift exchanges and painting eggs.

Flowers are an integral part of Nowruz celebrations. In some communities, Nowruz is brought in with extravagant floral arrangements and vases full of colourful fruit. Hyacinth and the tulips are popular choices and have also been included in today’s Google Doodle.

In India, Nowruz or Navroz is celebrated by the Parsi community – usually on March 20 or 21 which is the Spring Equinox. This year it is being celebrated on Tuesday, March 21.

Google Doodle on Nowruz

Google says that today’s Doodle “highlights this ancient holiday that marks the beginning of spring. More than 300 million people gather around the world on this day each year to celebrate the season of rebirth. Today’s Doodle artwork represents this theme with Spring flowers — tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and bee orchids.”

The artwork is in line with earlier Doodle on the Persian New Year. The doodles in 2007, 2016, 2017 and 2018 also featured similar floral-themed artwork to herald the arrival of Spring.