Artificial flowers and imitations of natural flowers are sometimes made for scientific purposes (the collection of glass flowers at Harvard University, for example, which illustrates the flora of the United States), but more often as articles for commercial or residential decoration.

Materials used in their manufacture have included painted linen and shavings of stained horn in Egypt, gold and silver in ancient Rome, rice-paper in China, silkworm cocoons in Italy, colored feathers in South America, and also wax and tinted shells. Modern techniques involve carved or formed soap, nylon netting stretched over wire frames, ground clay, and mass-produced injection plastic mouldings. Polyester is the major material for manufacturing of artificial flowers since 1970s. Most artificial flowers in the market nowadays are made of polyester fabrics.