Sunflower billboards pop up across Lehigh Valley in support of Ukraine
The sunflower, which symbolizes peace, happiness and optimism, is the national flower of Ukraine. And sunflowers seen under a clear sky match the Ukrainian national flag colors, yellow and blue.
Now the images are appearing on billboards across the Lehigh Valley and beyond in support of Ukraine, which is defending itself against a Russian invasion.
Adams Outdoor Advertising, which has a Bethlehem office, is putting the image on its billboards as a show of support for Ukraine. The image will also greet motorists in 13 other markets in Pennsylvania and six other states.
“The idea came about after one of our employees saw a YouTube video showing a Ukrainian woman telling Russian soldiers to put sunflower seeds in their pockets so that sunflowers would grow wherever those soldiers fell in battle,” Adams General Sales Manager Steve Boyle said.
In the video, the woman calls the soldiers “fascists,” telling them, “You will lie down here with the seeds.”
“So we thought how powerful it would be just to have the image of support be that sunflower,” Boyle said. “It’s just been tremendously received.”
Adams General Manager Tony Cioffi recalled when the Ukrainian government referenced the sunflower when putting away the country’s nuclear weapons in 1996.
“And now here they are, a peaceful people getting destroyed by the invading Russian military,” Cioffi said. “So, the sunflower on our billboards shows support for them.”
The Rev. Richard Jendras, pastor of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Allentown, said he would smile when he sees the image.
“Sunflowers speak of the brightness of Ukraine, of its culture and its fruitful land,” Jendras said. “And the blue and yellow [of the image] is appropriate, since the blue in the Ukrainian flag represents the beautiful sky and the yellow represents the fields of wheat and grain or sunflowers you can see stretching back to the horizon and meeting that sky.”