BobY asserted: It used to be the custom, and may be still, in English courtrooms to have a bouquet or nosegay, which the judge carried in and placed on his desk in front of him, also in some municipal processions, some officials carried a nosegay. The original reason was, as you note, the smell of the crowds (or, in the case of the courtroom, the smell of a prisoner brought up from the gaol or dungeon). These nosegays originally contained as much fragrant herbs as flowers, as it was believed that the aroma of the herbs could help overcome the dangerous humours.
The alternate explanation I've heard for nosegays was less specific than courtroom vapors ~ since it was custom to empty chamber pots out the window, the gentility carried nosegays to avoid succumbing right there on the street in front of the philistines for whom they were attempting to set an example! Sometimes when I'm frustrated by the ill effects of certain technologies on society, I pause and remember how grateful I am for modern plumbing.
