"fragrant plant of the mint family," c. 1300, from Anglo-French lavendre, Old French lavendre "the lavender plant," from Medieval Latin lavendula "lavender" (10c.), perhaps from Latin lividus "bluish, livid" (see livid). If so, it probably was associated with French lavande, Italian lavanda "a washing" (from Latin lavare "to wash;" from PIE root *leue- "to wash") because it was used to scent washed fabrics and as a bath perfume.
The lavender genus clusters most heavily around the western half of the Mediterranean basin. From there, different species spread outward to the Canary Islands, Madeira, the Arabian Peninsula, and as far as tropical northeast Africa and India. But the core of lavender’s diversity, where the greatest number of species evolved, sits in the mountains ringing the Mediterranean Sea. People picked it from Mediterranean hillsides for small-scale use in medicine, bathing, and scenting linens. The real turning point came in 1759, when the city of Grasse in southern France established a corporation of master perfumers. This formalized the perfume industry in Provence and created steady commercial demand for lavender oil.
By the late 1940’s newspapers used the “lavender set” as shorthand for groups of gay men. And even as Lavender Scare progressed, some resisted the dismissive appropriation of lavender and used the term positively within their own communities. The reclamation of lavender by the community became stronger in 1969, when, after the Stonewall Riots, a gay power demonstration formed a “purple column” of protesters wearing lavender ribbons and marching under a lavender banner. The color continued to appear in queer culture throughout the 1970’s from activist groups like the Lavender Panthers.