The sunflower was found by Francisco Pizarro in Tahuantinsuyo, Peru.  The sunflower was worshipped by the natives Incas as a symbol of the sun god. At the beginning of the 16th century, the sunflower seeds and gold figures of the flower were brought to Europe.

The sunflower is native to the Americas. Evidence indicates that the sunflower was first domesticated in Mexico around 2600 BC.  It may have been domesticated a second time in the middle Mississippi Valley.  It may also have been introduced there from Mexico at an early date.

The earliest known examples of a fully domesticated sunflower north of Mexico are in Tennessee around 2300 BC. The sunflower was used by many indigenous American peoples as the symbol of the sun deity, including the Aztecs and the Otomi of Mexico and the Incas in South America.

During the 18th Century, the use of sunflower oil became very popular in Europe, particularly with members of the Russian Orthodox Church because sunflower oil was one of the few oils that was not prohibited during Lent.