Pope Francis now has an orchid named after him

The exact name of the plant is “Dendrobium His Holiness Pope Francis.” It is, according to the Singapore government's description, an “immaculate ivory-white” hybrid orchid. To mark his visit, Pope Francis was invited to name the flower after himself.

The naming took place at a ceremony organized in his honor at Singapore's Parliament by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Thursday. The Pope planted a small sign inscribed with the name of the hybrid in the pot of this resplendent flower.

This highly original gift is actually far from a first. It's part of a strategy specific to the Lion City, called “orchid diplomacy,” in the same way as there is “panda diplomacy” in China. Its main player is the National Orchid Garden, an institution the British founded in the 19th century. Today it boasts some 1,000 natural variants of the precious plant, and 2,000 hybrids.

The naming idea actually originated in the mid-20th century, when the country was still British. It started when an orchid was named in honor of a governor's wife, a certain Anne Black. Subsequently, and especially after Singapore's independence in 1965, this procedure was used to honor prestigious international personalities.

Lee Kwan Yew, the founder of the State of Singapore and its long-serving Prime Minister, saw Singapore as a “garden city” and gave great importance to the National Orchid Garden. He set up a “VIP” section of hybrids, “creations” made from two variants, destined to be awarded to deserving personalities.

Examples include Queen Elizabeth II, US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Princess Diana and Princess Kate, Nelson Mandela, Xi Jinping, and Margaret Thatcher. Pope Francis joins this list, which also includes celebrities from civil society such as Andrea Bocelli, Jackie Chan, and Elton John.

These particularly refined orchids are not for sale. The only way to see them is to visit the National Orchid Garden in Singapore.