<P> In Tunisia and the wider Arab world , the protests and change in government are called the Revolution or sometimes the Sidi Bouzid Revolt , derived from Sidi Bouzid , the city where the initial protests began . In the Western media , these events have been dubbed the Jasmine Revolution or Jasmine Spring after Tunisia 's national flower and in keeping with the geopolitical nomenclature of `` color revolutions '' . The name `` Jasmine Revolution '' originated from American journalist Andy Carvin , but it was not widely adopted in Tunisia itself . In fact , the debate surrounding the name and the poetic influences behind the Tunisian revolution was a popular question among Tunisian intellectuals themselves as seen in the following article : Tunisia 's revolution of dignity and freedom can not be color - coded . The name adopted in Tunisia was the Dignity Revolution , which is a translation of the Tunisian Arabic name for the revolution ثورة الكرامة ( Thawrat al - Karāmah ) . Within Tunisia , Ben Ali 's rise to power in 1987 was also known as the Jasmine Revolution . </P>
why is the tunisian revolution called the jasmine revolution
after Tunisia 's national flower and in keeping with the geopolitical nomenclature of `` color revolutions ''