Daily AncestorMorning glory
A morning glory on a gravestone stands for the brevity of life, since the flower opens and fades in a day; some read it as resurrection.
Morning glories bloom in the morning and close by evening, which made them a fitting sign of mortality. One cemetery guide reads them simply as the mortality of life; another adds resurrection, mourning, youth and farewell.
The vine is often carved twining around the edge of a stone. Its meaning shifts with the context, so read it alongside the dates and any verse on the stone.
As seen in a recordSouthern or Midwest town cemetery, 1860 to 1920
Morning glory vine framing the inscription: Willie, son of J. T. and S. E. Rountree, died July 20, 1884, aged 3 yrs.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Morning glory." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/gravestone-symbols/morning-glory. Last checked 2026-10-15.