https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-olympics-live-updates/2021/07/26/ [login to see] /flowers-olympic-medalists-meaning-japan-tokyo-bouquet
If you've been tuning in to Olympic events, you might have noticed that every medal winner carries a small bouquet of yellow, green and deep-blue flowers tied with a blue bow.
But they're more than just flowers. The elements of the bouquet carry a deeper story, and they are years in the making.
They're meant to symbolize Japan rising from the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011, which left about 20,000 people dead or missing. Homes were swept away and whole areas were deserted.
The flowers that make up the bouquets are grown mostly in three prefectures hit particularly hard in that event. All but about 100 of the dead or missing were from these areas.