The water lily stands for perfect beauty.
The water lily is the first flower mentioned in world literature. In Asia, the flowering water lily, called the lotus, symbolizes absolute truth and purity. The bloom became associated with Buddha himself. The Hindus in India believe that, before its creation as we know it, the world was a golden lotus.
These water plants, with their flowers of pink, white, and blue, often bloom only at night, their perfume spreading across the dark surface of a pond. In the West, the water lily was given the botanical name nymphaea, referring to those Greek nature goddesses, the nymphs.