Huadian

From the imagery, it's evident that flower hairpins come in a myriad of shapes. The simplest ones may just be small dots. More intricate designs incorporate materials like gold foil, pearls, fish gills, fish scales, tea oil cakes, black glossy paper, conch shells, and mica, fashioned into various flower shapes, with plum blossoms being the most common. This might be in homage to Princess Chenshou's plum blossom makeup.

Aside from plum blossom shapes, there are also various birds, fish, ducks, and even many complex patterns such as horn shapes, fan shapes, peach shapes, and more often, various abstract patterns, arranged symmetrically and spaced evenly. When these flower hairpins are affixed to the forehead, they truly resemble vibrant and colorful blossoms, enhancing a woman's adornment with grace and grandeur. In recent TV dramas depicting life in the Tang Dynasty, whether it's Princess Gaoyang, Princess Taiping, Empress Wu Zetian, or Yang Guifei, they all wear a small red or golden ornament on their foreheads. Some look like they've dabbed a flower with color, which is what we call flower hairpins.