The Symbolism of the Rose

1
The Symbolism of the Rose

• By Emma Shrive
• shri5710_at_wlu.ca

2
Origin

• How the rose first came into existence is a
  mystery
• Many myths and legends
• Birth of Venus
• Created by Earth
• Many questions about the colour of the first rose

3
History

• Original distribution unclear
• Naturally occurring in the Northern Hemisphere
• Fossil records indicate the rose was present at
  least 30 million years ago
• First rose recorded in historical records 5000
  years ago
• Believed to have gotten its name from the Latin
  word for its colour (Red Rosa Rose)
• Ancestral rose species only had 5 petals
• Roses we have today with many petals resulted
  from cultivation and breeding
• Many cultivars today

4
The Rose symbolizes many things
 

• Love
• Passion
• Beauty
• Life/Immortality
• Death
• Joy
• Celebration
• Pain
• Secrecy
• Honour
• Youth
• Rebirth
• Growth
• Freshness

• Spring
• Purity/Innocence
• Peace
• Unity
• Luxury
• Perfection
• Loss of Perfection
• Paradise
• Mystery
• Power/Authority
• Hope
• Magic
• Jealousy
• Women

5
Red Rose

• Love, Passion and Beauty
• Venus (Aphrodite) Goddess of Love
• Colour red heat, fire and passion
• Death
• Spilt blood

6
White Rose

• Purity/Innocence
• First Rose
• Virgin Mary

www.pbase.com/kerrym/image/54835112
7
Yellow Rose

• Unfaithfulness
• Jealousy
• Mohammed
• and his wife
  

www.photographic-dreams.com/flowers.php/pictures/y
ellow-rose-1.html
8
Rose Unity

• War of the Roses
• House of York
• White rose
• House of Lancaster
• Red rose

http//the-tudor-rose.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_arch
ive.html
9
Rose Secrecy

• Sub Rosa
• Petals covering stamens like lips covering our
  mouths
• Secret battle plan of the Greeks formulated in an
  area surrounded by rose bushes

kaweahoaks.com/html/wild_rose.html
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Roses used as a language
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Still used as a language today

• Roses are used to symbolize feelings today
• Use colour as well as the number of roses given

12
References

• Bone, Sonni and Clark, Betty (1990) The World of
  Roses A practical handbook on the use of the
  rose from ancient to modern times. Hignell
  Printing, Winnipeg Manitoba
•  
• Carruthers, Miss (1972) Flower Lore Singing Tree
  Press, Detroit
•  
• Goody, Jack (1993) The Culture of Flowers
  Cambridge University Press, New York, NY
•  
• Greenaway, Kate (1885) The Language of Flowers
  accessed online at http//www.illuminated-books.co
  m/books/flowers.htm
•  
• Heilmeyer, Marina (2001) The Language of Flowers
  Symbols and Myths Prestel Verlag, Germany
•  
• Kruessmann, Gerd. (1981) The Complete Book of
  Roses. Timber Press, Portland Oregon
•  
• Le Rougetel, Hazel (1988) A Heritage of Roses
  Stemmer House Publishing Inc, Maryland
•  
• McIntyre, Jim. (1970) The Story of the Rose. Ward
  Lock Ltd., London.
•  
• Paterson, Allen. (1983). The History of the Rose.
  William Collins and Sons Co. Ltd., Glasgow
•  
• Wells, Diana (1997) 100 Flowers and How they Got
  Their Name Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, North
  Carolina