Why did the sunflower emoji become the symbol of Ukrainian resistance?

People on the internet are expressing their solidarity with Ukraine with a sunflower emoji.

Apart from the flower being the country’s symbol, there is another reason for the sudden flood of sunflowers. At the end of February, a video began going viral on social media in which a Ukrainian woman questions an armed Russian soldier about what he is doing in her country, then offers him sunflower seeds to put in his pocket so that sunflowers can grow on Ukrainian soil when the soldier dies.

Ukraine is the world’s leading exporter of sunflowers and sunflower oil, and the war is expected to trigger a radical increase in the price of cooking oil.

Source: Papermag