ALT-3 The Significance of different Rose Colors
With Valentine's Day approaching, many thousands of men all over the world will give their partner a single red rose or a bunch of red roses. It is the world's most enduring symbol of love. But have you ever wondered why it is specifically a red rose that says "I love you", and what the colours of other roses mean? If so, I hope this explains a little.
The language of flowers goes back many years. So first we have to look at the ancient art of Floriography, which literally means "flower writing", and was introduced to Europe from Persia about 300 years ago. In ancient days, the general population was largely illiterate, so writing love letters was impractical. Also, lovers could not meet very often and were never unchaperoned, so flowers became a popular and practical way of sending messages backwards and forwards. The tradition reached its height in Victorian England when every young man and lady were well versed in the language of flowers, and could carry on conversations, and even relationships through them. Red roses were adopted then as a symbol of undying love, romance and sincerity, and still remain so today.
But what of the other colours? Pink for example is probably the closest colour to red, but has a completely different meaning. Pink has always been a particularly feminine colour - hence the concept of baby boys wearing blue and baby girls wearing pink - so pink roses are more of a gift between women, than from a man to a woman. Many bouquets of pink roses are sent to Mothers from their daughters on Mothers' Day for example. They do say "I love You" but in a totally different way to their red cousins. Be sure to buy a darker shade of pink to show those feelings though, as lighter shades are generally said to show sympathy, and are more often found in funeral wreaths than in gift bouquets.
Yellow roses meanwhile, denote friendship, and therefore yellow is the ideal colour rose to choose if you are sending a "cheer-up" bouquet to a friend, or perhaps a get well soon message. Yellow is always a colour associated with happiness and cheer,reminding us of sunshine and long Summer days, and a yellow rose will always bring a smile to someone's face.
Similar to yellow, but with it's own specific meaning, is the orange rose.The orange rose represents pride and fascination. It says, "Well done. I am so proud of you!" without saying a word. A slightly lighter shade of orange such as peach, is often used to denote sympathy, whilst white stands for purity and innocence.
Nowadays of course, gardeners have developed roses in many unusual colours. You can now buy lilac roses for example. Their mysterious quality means it is not surprising that they can denote enchantment, whilst the black rose, is always something deep and secretive.
The language of flowers is indeed fascinating, and the rose is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful of all flowers. There are so many different shades of roses, and all have their own individual meaning. And if you really want to confuse your Valentine on february 14th, why not buy her a bouquet wil many different shades within it? Not only will this multi-coloured bunch look eye-catching, but it will certainly keep her guessing about your intentions!
