So, you want to give your guy a bouquet of roses or maybe a tasteful single long-stemed rose...But what colour, (or color - for my American readers) should you choose? The language of flowers or floriography, was a popular pastime in the Victorian-era, although it should be noted that it dates back much farther than that. Various flowers and floral arrangements were used to send coded messages, which allowed one to express feelings which otherwise couldn't be spoken.
For our purposes, we'll just stick to the romantic meaning of a roses colour. Colour and symbolism is a funny thing because they can have a different meanings to different people or cultures. I've chosen the colours, and meanings based on what is considered the common meaning in North America.
It should be noted that there's something to be said for just giving your favorite guy a dozen or more roses in any appealing colour or arangment and forgoing the colour symbolism.
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* As you can see, the symbolic meaning for any given colour can greatly vary.
** OK, so "thornless" isn't a colour.
*** Black...not exactly romantic unless you're a goth or vampire but still, I thought I'd add it in.
Sources and further reading:
- My personal notes.
- Wikipedia: Floriography
- Wikipedia: Rose
- Wikipedia: Blue Rose
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