80+ Stylish Roses Tattoo Designs & Meanings – Best Ideas of 2019
Rose is the eternal and international symbol of beauty and love. Rose tattoo design has been popular among both men and women since 20 century. It is a very delicate flower of all imaginable colors with soft and velvety petals but yet with thorns.
Rose is the queen of flowers. It is the subject of fervent love of people all over the world. Since ancient times, the rose has been the object of worshiping and admiration.
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The origin of a rose flower
The earliest information about the rose flower can be found in Indian legends: it was so honorable that there was even a law according to which everyone who will bring a rose to the king could ask him for anything he desire.
According to the Greek legend the rose was born from the white foam that covered the body of Venus, when the wondrous goddess of love in all her beauty came out of the sea.
Seeing her in the lovely flowers, gods were charmed and sprinkled them with nectar which gave them that very lovely scent that we all know.
Later Venus found out that her beloved Adonis was killed by a wild boar. As all the floor of her temple was covered with white roses when she rushed to him she scratched her feet. Some drops of her magic blood reached the flowers and since then they became crimson red.
The Greeks wore roses on the head and chest as a sign of mourning, as a symbol of brevity of life which fade as quickly as the fragrant rose. They even have a proverb: “If you once walked past the rose, do not look for it anymore.”
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The meanings and color variants
The meaning of Rose Tattoo today is one of the most profound and versatile. Among all the other flowers depicted on the body, the rose is the most beautiful and popular. During its long history the rose became commonly used as a tattoo and universally recognized symbol of not only for women but also for men.
A lot of people, who choose exactly this image, consider that it will reveal their inner and outer beauty.
In general, the rose is a symbol of love, beauty, youth, purity, holiness and revival. It embodies almost all the existing positive features and properties.
In the Western countries rose alongside with lily are as honorable as lotus in the East, and have very similar meanings. The rose at the funeral symbolizes eternal memory and sorrow. Sometimes the rose symbolizes the silence and hidden secrets.
Leaves of roses symbolize joy, thorns – sadness and the flower itself – the glory.
Rosebud symbolizes the beginning of relationships, love, childhood and naivety. As a sign of true love rose can be depicted with no thorns. And vise versa. Thorns are added as a constant reminder that love is impossible without sacrifices.
- Golden Rose is the emblem of the Pope and means perfection. Red rose stands for love, desire, passion and devotion. It is the most popularvariant.
- White rose as symbolizes fidelity, virginity, innocence and spiritual revelation.
- Blue rose became a symbol of something unattainable and impossible.
- Purple rose stands for affection and love at first sight.
- Yellow accompanies grief and separation, yet nowadays it is also known to be a sign of mature love.
There are also some exotic color variants. They are black and rainbow rose.
First one is tattoo classics and is usually made in honor of somebody who passed away as a symbol of eternal love and devotion. The rainbow one is perfect to be made with a “watercolor technique”.
In alchemy a rose is a symbol of wisdom, lack of desire and spiritual revival after the death of corporal. In Chinese culture it is valued for its fragrance and is a symbol of prosperity.
In addition rose is a constant source of inspiration. We all know story a rose and a nightingale that falls in love with her and dies of thorns of love, and making flowers red of blood. So rose is even a symbol of unattainable love object and a source of inspiration for poets and musicians.
Rose is closely linked with concepts of eternity of death and resurrection.
We can see rose on the official emblems and as the symbols of many countries. In conjunction with the cross rose is a symbol of the Knights of the Temple and the Freemasons. Sometimes spikes are associated with the lapse from virtue.
In Buddhism – a sign of true trinity.
As you can see, all the rose tattoo meanings are incredibly deep and interesting. Rose has always been the most beloved and mysterious of flowers, its beauty and perfection was admired in the myths for thousands of years.
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Tips how to make your personal rose unique
Though the “rose theme” is very popular I decided to give you some tips to personalize it a little bit. All you need is some extra money.
You can do it in traditional “old school” style with a thick black contour and in deep red or blue colors. I advise you to add some quotation. Your motto. Or some tribal designs as within this style it would be appropriate.
Black and white rose in combination with a cross usually is a memorial tattoo. The same I can say about the rose and skull combination.
Keep in mind! If you are a girl, the rose tattoo with a high detalization is definitely what you need. It won’t look as massive as those of “old school” stile and will help you to emphasize your femininity and tenderness. It is better to find a good artist so that he could do a sophisticated work of art on your skin. Using semitransparent soft colors to create the effect that a real flower has.
The sizes could be different: a small neck tattoo or a huge composition on the back. The rose tattoo is so versatile that it is a good idea to choose it to cover up our old ones that disappoint you or just those tattoos you are sick of already.
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Location of the tattoo on different parts of the body
The most popular locations among those who want to get the rose tattoo are inner part of the arm and shoulder, although, the image of the flower looks great on any part of the body from head to toe.
The only difference, of course, is that rose tattoo on the shoulder (or back) provides more room for imagination of a tattoo artist, as larger and vaster image may be applied on those areas.
At the same time women prefer to have a rose tattoo on the leg and men prefer to tattoo their back or the shoulders, using different combination with other
symbols: clocks, barbed wire, guns and ribbons.
Rose is also used as a symbol not only by the ordinary people to adorn their body but also as identification for the gang members all over the world, especially in the USA, Mexico and Brazil. For example the members of the Texas Syndicate which is the oldest of the prison gangs in the state.
Texas Syndicate says that by joining a gang, you remain a member until his death and the group interests are always above your own.
The Syndicate members have a huge «TS» abbreviation usually on the forearm. Sometimes it can be a snake instead «S», instead of «T» – a stylized cross with a ribbon. Usually the letters are combined with roses, bull sculls and naked girls.
Those are made in black and white symbolizing that fact that you will be the gang member till the end of time.
But what is interesting that the rose tattoo is widely spread among the famous women in Hollywood. Cheryl Fernandez-Versini (Cheryl Cole) has the biddest one. It is a floral tattoo on the lower part of the back and butt in August 2013. This massive work was done by artist Nikko Hurtado. It took a lot of sessions and dozens of hours before it was finished finally.
In February 2013 interview she noticed that she had already spent 15 hours for the tattoo, but wasn’t finished yet.
She tweeted that the meaning of the tattoo is personal, but she confessed that rose is her favorite flower. Cheryl already has a little rose tattoo on her right thigh. But the fans accused her of having a bad taste. And only time will tell whether she has done a right thing.
You’ll never get tired of your roses; it is an open field of work as you can improve it all the time, add new ones to create a full garden of them. I saw a lot of people who do a whole sleeve tattoo of black and white or colorful roses and believe me, it looks really amazing.
But remember your tattoo can break all the rules and have the unique meaning that will depend neither on style nor on the color.
