A couple's 40th wedding anniversary is often celebrated with flowers and gatherings that include family and friends. If you're commemorating 40 years of marriage and want to give your spouse flowers, or if you want to give a gift of flowers to the couple or decorate a party table, knowing which beautiful blooms to include will personalize the bouquet.

The nasturtium is considered the official flower of the 40th wedding anniversary. It symbolizes victory--and being married for 40 years is definitely an accomplishment. The flowers are available in a variety of colors, but deep red or ruby is most closely associated with a 40th wedding anniversary. If you're giving the flowers to a couple, present them in a ruby-colored vase, or tie the vase with a ruby-red ribbon.

Red roses are ideal to give your spouse for a 40th anniversary. Red or ruby is the 40th anniversary hue, and red roses symbolize love and passion. The rose is also a flower of remembrance, making it very appropriate for this important anniversary.

Deep red tulips make a wonderful present for your 40th wedding anniversary; symbolically, red tulips are a declaration of love. Tulips are also significant if they were used in your wedding ceremony or reception. If you want to include other tulip colors besides red in your bouquet to your spouse, include cream-colored tulips, which mean "I love you forever."

Also considered a 40th wedding anniversary flower, the gladiolus is a symbol of both integrity and infatuation. Gladioli are grown in a variety of colors, so create a bouquet of your spouse's favorite shades, or present an arrangement of red gladioli in keeping with the 40th anniversary color theme.

Red is the color of love when it comes to flowers, and ruby is the 40th anniversary shade. Present a bouquet of red flowers to the couple as a gift or use red blossoms in a table arrangement. Mixing such flowers as roses, carnations, day lilies or anthuriums, which are tropical heart-shaped flowers, can make the bouquet especially appealing.