WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT THE DANDELION?
Excerpt from the Military Brats Registry, used by permission.

“Children of the world, blown to all corners of the world, we bloom anywhere!”

The Dandelion was chosen in 1998 as the “Official Flower of the Military Brat” during a discussion on the Internet Newsgroup alt.culture.military-brats. It was voted on and adopted on the Military Brats Registry. During the thread, Anne Manning Booher suggested the dandelion:

How about the dandelion? The plant puts down roots almost anywhere. It is almost impossible to get rid of. It is entirely useable except for the little puffball thingy. An unpretentious plant, yet good looking (except for the habit of being where you least expect it.) It’s a survivor in a broad range of climates. And even where those who are so inclined would apply poisons, they have to do it one plant at a time season after season. This just illustrates my motto which is “bloom where you’re planted”

The great thing about dandelions is that, even though they are considered a “weed”, they do not take nutrients from their surroundings. Dandelions do not dare to be the submissive plant, nor the dominant plant. They live as equals in their surroundings. Look at the grass around the dandelion. Is it not just as green as it was before? The grass and the dandelion live side by side. When a dandelion is plucked and a wish is made as the seeds are tenderly blown, the seeds float on the wind, finding a new home. There, the seeds find a new home and flourish, living side by side with their new neighbors. Only a dandelion can understand another dandelion and the journey the dandelion has been on. That is the military Brat. And it is why we adopted the dandelion as the official flower of Military. Only Brats know what other Brats endure and feel. Only Brats understand. No matter how many degrees a civilian holds, the Brat life is one that one MUST live…MUST experience to fully understand. Brats will, like we are trained, help other Brats…unnoticed and unheralded. After all, it is our “job”. Rae Shue Blalack

Recently the civilian world has noticed the beauty of the Dandelion. It can be seen in many forms, from fine art to avatars. Our story has been copied, plagiarized, attributed to “anonymous” and spread around the world by marketers of various products. But then, that’s what a Dandelion does.

The Dandelion, a poem by Chelsea:
She will blow and blow, but will never know, where the little dandelion will go; where the little dandelion will grow. The wind takes it high, the wind takes it low, but still she will never know where the little dandelion will go; where the little dandelion will go.

The complete history of the Dandelion as the Official Flower of the Military Brat can be downloaded as a PDF document by right-clicking here: The History of the Dandelion