I agree, the design would be unusual straight if it was meant to depict a flower's stem, but on the other hand I would expect a stylized sword to have a more symmetrical tip...
Anyway, may I offer a more poetic interpretation of the bow, which in my opinion isn't suggestive of the Gordian Knot at all? A bow tied by a maiden's gentle hand around the blade of a knight's sword makes it useless: love overcomes war and all that...
--Previous Message-- : It is too eh... masculine to see a plant in : it, I think : : Now that John mentioned the Gordian Knot.... : maybe a gift by Prince Bernhard to Queen : Juliana to seal the end of the crisis at the : Court in the 1950's (Hofmans Affair): the : Gordian Knot has been solved? Most likely I : am reading too much in it, but the design : intrigues me. :