The Scent of Lithuania 2011

Lithuania is breaking entirely new ground in its effort to establish a distinctive trademark for the young state. As Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has now announced, an unusual way has been found to give Lithuania a “trademark” that will make the country known around the world.

This “trademark,” intended to represent Lithuania to the world, is—perfume. A perfume that is supposed to smell like Lithuania. According to Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first bottles of the “distinctive” fragrance have already been distributed to all the embassies in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius . Lithuanian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan have also received bottles of the “national fragrance,” the Ministry announced. Soon, the perfume will be available for purchase through regular retailers, such as hotels and airports. So anyone who wants to smell like Lithuania will have every opportunity to do so.

Communications expert Mindaugas Stongvilas, hired specifically to create a trademark for the entire country, wanted the “national perfume” to be something special and distinctive, suited to Lithuania, its people, and the country’s unique character. The perfume’s ingredients therefore include a combination of sandalwood and cedarwood, which are characteristic of Lithuania’s forests. Musk and the scent of meadow flowers are also featured in the Lithuanian perfume. The first thousand bottles were made by a company in Grasse, in southern France. It remains to be seen whether production of the national perfume will eventually take place within Lithuania’s own borders.

Lithuania is therefore the first country in the world to symbolize itself not only with a flag and an anthem, but also with a perfume. One can only hope that this will help Lithuania “smell good” in other countries.