According to the latest theories of social and cultural disciplines, the present study may be defined as belonging to the field of cultural anthropology in general and to narrower field of ethnology. The research focuses on the study of the tree of life, as a national and universal archetype ornament in contemporary artistic creation. Artistic creation is incorporated in the social and cultural process, contributing to the characterization of the spiritual community. The defining aspect of an ethnic group represent ornamental elements, inspired by the whole everyday life, often suggested by environment, adopted, stylized, passed through the filter of craftsmen and fantasy transmitted from generation to generation until the contemporaneity. One of the most popular ornaments of folk art with a deep symbolism is the tree of life. Being a universal motive with multiple functions, tree of life can be seen in an interdisciplinary way: as a decorative element on fabrics, as architectural ornament, as the imagologic archetype of many ethnic groups. The famous scholar R. Vulcănescu in his prestigious work Column of heaven mentions three ethnocultural functions of the tree of life: a magical function, a mythological function and an artistic one. From an artistic point of view, as a decorative element with aesthetic and symbolic tree of life is met the national and folk art. The article dimentiones fleece fabrics and textile fibres from the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Estonia, Sweden, France, Austria where tree representation appears in the most diverse situations (with roots in vase, with fruit and flowers, with security guards, with birds at the top). According to Romanian ethnologist P. Petrescu, diversity of representation of the tree of life at the same time with the similarities to the point of identity in different geographical spaces of this ornament is contained in three patterns with mutual influence: type the Thraco-Dacian, represented by branches of fir or fir itself, Mediterranean type, represented by the vessels with torches with a plant or a flower in it, and the Oriental type, represented by tree roots and guard animals. In terms of significance, regardless of the pattern where it is included, the tree of life remains a universal archetype with profound symbolic connotations, referring to religion, mythology, science, philosophy, and more. The most complex interpretation of this symbol belongs to the historian and philosopher Mircea Eliade. According to his ideas, that tree is a symbol of the ever-evolving life, evoking the verticality. It includes communication among three levels of the cosmic space: the underground, through roots that stir the depths of what it is planted in; the Earth’s surface, through the trunk and lower branches; high peak, through branches, attracted to the light of heaven. In terms of Greek mythology, as a result of prehistoric beliefs (animism, totemism) trees have been assigned mystical-religious character, becoming the most representative symbols of the unbroken cycle dynamics of the succession of seasons (similar to that of human life), of death and resurrection of nature. Vegetational element that governs the entire life of a person is the fir-tree presented in all manifestations and ritual of ceremonial that worship stars, life cycle, birth, wedding, death, calendar cycle – working days and holidays, solstice and equinox in traditional Romanian spirituality. These hypostases confirm their sacredness, often expressed in legends, fairy tales, stories, carols, ballads, proverbs, chants, being a true vegetational leitmotif of the ancient Romanian mythology. The idea of biological evolution makes the tree of life a symbol of fertility that built the whole magic, expressed through tattooing the body in the form of branches, tying trees with handkerchiefs for childbirth etc. These are just some of the examples that confirm the fact that tree of life repeats itself as a leitmotif in national and universal culture, the contemporary creation from the past and present through the three functions tree of life.