LEGO Designs: Bolivian National Flowers

Looking for ideas for a LEGO project, I asked my wife for inspiration. Being born in Bolivia and an avid fan of the LEGO Botanical Collection, she challenged me to design Bolivia’s national flowers. Bolivia has a rich history and two distinct cultural populations, reflected in its two national flowers: the cantuta and the patujú. Both flowers share the vibrant colors of the Bolivian flag—red, yellow, and green. 

Both of Bolivia’s national flowers—the cantuta and the patujú—hold deep cultural and historical significance, reflecting the unity and diversity of the nation. The cantuta, often called the “sacred flower of the Andes,” symbolizes tradition and indigenous heritage. The patujú, on the other hand, is associated with the eastern lowlands and represents resilience and growth. Together, these flowers embody Bolivia’s two distinct cultural regions. Their shared colors—red, yellow, and green—mirror those of the Bolivian flag, which represents the nation’s bravery (red), natural resources and wealth (yellow), and lush landscapes (green).

Rather than delving too deeply here into the history and symbolism of the flag, its colors, and the flowers, I’ve provided some quick links for anyone interested in exploring further:

- Cantuta Flower
- Patujú Flower     
- Bolivian Flag
- Additional Context

I started with the cantuta flower, as it’s the one my wife was most familiar with, as well as the one she was the most excited to see in LEGO. It was also, as I quickly discovered, the easier of the two flowers to design in LEGO, although its signature long bell shape was hard to capture and turned out a bit clunkier than I had hoped. I wish there was a way for me to cover the inverted stud area on the petal pieces, but that would only make it stick out more. The current design is also necessary for having an area that could hold the stamens coming out of the bell.

Next came the patujú, and as one can see in the pictures, it’s a completely different challenge. While the cantuta can fit neatly into a flower pot, the patujú can easily grow taller than me. Designing it to fit into a shared flower pot with the cantuta was no small task. The curving stem and the flower itself was a truly enjoyable challenge to replicate, however its design does pose some problems down the road that I'll mention later. The individual flowers have adjustable hinge pieces attaching them to the central stem, allowing someone to adjust them so that they don't necessarily have to jut out at the same angle in a final build.

Another challenge arose after I finished the patujú flower: supporting its weight. The flower’s form and weight made it structurally unstable. In hindsight, I could have miniaturized the flower even more to align with LEGO’s scale, but where’s the fun in that? Unlike typical LEGO flower stems, which use LEGO Technic axles and connectors, the patujú has more of a thicker stalk-like structure. This meant I couldn’t rely on existing LEGO designs for inspiration. I ended up creating a sturdy stalk that mimicked the real-life patujú while keeping it within a manageable size.

For the pot, I turned to my wife for inspiration. She helped me find a traditional Bolivian pot with intricate geometric designs, which became the basis for my first design. She particularly emphasized the pattern on the lower part of the pot, which she insisted was very traditional. I worked to replicate this as faithfully as possible in LEGO form. While the pot design turned out “bumpy” rather than smooth, I embraced this as a way to possibly reflect carved details.

After having finished this design I noticed how I really enjoyed the interlocking wedge pieces at the upper part of the pot's design, and looked for some other important symbols to the region that I could implement into another design. I quickly learned of the Incan, or Andean Cross, the Chakana, an ancient and culturally important symbol in the region. Inspired by its significance, I created an alternative pot design featuring the Chakana, with a heavier focus on the utilizing the wedge pieces, as well as featuring the Bolivian colors. Although I love the details of the geometric pot, this one is my favorite of the two.

Disclaimer: 

It’s worth mentioning that I didn’t design the entire pot from scratch. The internal structure—the functional base—was borrowed from LEGO’s Birds of Paradise set. It served as the perfect foundation for this botanical project, allowing me to focus on the decorative exterior and flower design. Thank you to the designer of that set, Chris McVeigh.

In the final design I focused on balancing these two national flowers, giving each of them space to shine. Initially, I considered positioning the larger patujú off-center to give the cantuta more prominence on the other side of it, but the composition didn’t work well visually. In the end, the patujú remains the centerpiece, with the cantuta flowering around its base.

Structural support for the patujú remained a challenge. If built in real life, the flower would likely need additional reinforcement to prevent it from simply falling out of its connection to the stalk. To address this, I borrowed a stem from the cantuta to subtly support the patujú in a non-obtrusive way. While I couldn’t get the software (stud.io) to align the connections perfectly, I’m confident this would work in a physical build.

Integrating the cantuta alongside the larger patujú presented its own set of challenges. I needed to ensure that the cantuta didn’t look like an afterthought next to the towering patujú. To achieve this, I gave it a distinct shape and ensured it looked cohesive in the design. I also want to avoid too much symmetry, as it would deter from the organic look I naturally wanted my end product to have.

I also noticed that smaller versions of the cantuta plant can have red stems, as is visible earlier in the picture with the purple flower pot, but in LEGO form, the red stems would have clashed visually with the redness of the flowers. I opted for green stems instead to maintain visual clarity and balance. I did however retain the red ones on the smaller budding flowers.

It is also worth noting that this design was created entirely from photographs without the opportunity to observe the flowers in person. Access to real-life specimens would have allowed for greater accuracy and lifelike detail.

This LEGO interpretation of Bolivia’s national flowers was both challenging and rewarding. It pushed me to think creatively about design, balance, and structural stability while honoring the cultural significance and shared history of these flowers. The process was deeply educational, and I’m proud of the final result.

That said, as a realistic LEGO product, this design may not be feasible in its current form. For context, the Birds of Paradise set, which inspired the pot base, contains 1,173 pieces. My designs are significantly larger: the Chakana Pot + Plant includes 2,456 pieces, and the Geometric Pot + Plant has 2,904 pieces—making them easily the largest botanical sets by far. A National Flower collection, scaled down to reduce complexity, might be a more practical option. However, market research would be necessary to determine whether there’s enough widespread interest or if the concept would appeal to a more niche audience.

Thank you for exploring this project with me. I hope you’ve enjoyed these flowers as much as I enjoyed designing them!