A few decades ago, our forefathers from all over the world landed on the shores of Singapore. Thanks to their blood, sweat, determination and tears, Singapore became the global financial hub she is today. Like many Singaporeans, our national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim's ancestral roots are foreign, yet it is totally at home in Singapore, and has adapted well to harsh physical conditions. It rapidly established its name and flourished in Singapore, then throughout South-east Asia and later in Hawaii, Florida, tropical America and Sri Lanka. The ingredients of the success stories of Singapore and the wealth of free-flowering orchids one sees is not a gift of nature but the result of the single-minded purpose of our pioneers and a lot of hard work and patience. Thus, this similarity is rather symbolic to our citizens especially those who had persevered and struggled for the success of Singapore.

Besides developing and changing Singapore from an insignificant island to an advanced country today, our forefathers brought along with them the different cultures from their homeland and turned Singapore into a whole new multi-racial country. Each and every race has its own unique culture and practices. Hence, the National Flower was a part of an overall effort to foster national pride and identity. After years of deliberation, a national committee comprising representatives from the Ministry of Culture, the Park and Recreation Department, The Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, the Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research and the Orchid Society of South-east Asia chose Vanda Miss Joaquim as the national flower from amongst some 30 orchids, "because of its resilience and year-round blooming quality".

In addition, Vanda Miss Joaquim is not only the first, but also the oldest and sole indigenous hybrid of Singapore. The free-flowering orchid is so easy to cultivate and produce, that it has served as a yardstick for orchid hybridizers.
Also, besides being delicate they possess a penetrating fragrance coupled with foliage that is simply beautiful.

Last but not least, Singapore has been the trendsetter in orchids for nearly a century and it hosted the Fourth World Orchid Conference in 1963. The Malayan Orchid Society had hence chosen Vanda Miss Joaquim for its crest in 1957.

Thus, this orchid, which freshness and elegance never fails to capture one's attention has made the choice of Vanda Miss Joaquim as National Flower most appropriate.