Definition of "vinok"

[T]he unmarried young woman's headdress, the vinok (wreath or garland) of natural or artificial flowers, […] was worn by maidens (divky, divchata), i.e., virgins, eligible for marriage. In pre-Christian times, it was believed that a vinok protected girls from the "nechysta syla" (the unclean, i.e., evil, spirit) and the evil eye.

1999 August 1, Orysia Paszczak Tracz, “The Things We Do … Vinok, Vinochok”, in The Ukrainian Weekly‎, volume LXVII, number 31, Jersey City, N.J.: Ukrainian National Association, archived from the original on 2007-10-31

These days, vinoks are sold almost everywhere in Kyiv, even the gray, dilapidated Soviet spaceship-type bazaars on the outskirts of the city's main center, where they sit alongside pale pigs heads, mounds of beef, fresh fish, fake Adidas tracksuits, neon puffer coats, and rows of pantyhose. […] This past summer, model Nadiia Shapoval wore a modern, ethereal vinok with white ribbons, dotted with orange flowers, at her wedding. "After the revolution, more people wore them to weddings. Now even ordinary people wear vyshyvanka at weddings and vinok as well," she says. "As for me, wearing these things was important, and I wore it because I wanted to marry in national dress. The vinok is a part of that."

2016 February 5, Liana Satenstein, “In Ukraine, that Flower Crown Means More than You Think”, in Anna Wintour, editor, Vogue, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications

Flowers, feathers, hemp threads, shells, beads, even pieces of foil and wax—these are just a few of the items that Ukrainian artist Dominika Dyka weaves into her modern re-creations of the traditional Ukrainian vinok (wreath or crown). […] Ulyana Yavna, founder of the Traditional Clothing of Ukraine store in Lviv says the vintage look "became very popular after the Revolution of Dignity." But she recalls the wreath, or vinok, beginning to play a role as early as the Orange Revolution, "when many women wore the vinok during protests like some symbol."

2020 July 6, Eve Conant, “Spectacular Flower Crowns Rule in Ukraine”, in National Geographic‎, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, archived from the original on 2024-09-03