18 Rose Colors & Their Meanings
Red Roses: Love & Passion Red roses are inextricably tied to romance, desire, and true love—making red one of the most popular and iconic rose colors we have. A bouquet of red roses makes a great gift for someone you want to express romantic love to, whether it’s a new crush or a long-term significant other. Aside from the red rose’s connection to deep affection and feeling, it can also convey commitment, new beginnings, and beauty. Common Occasions & Uses: Valentine’s Day, weddings, and anniversaries. Best Paired With: White lilies, cream roses, blush pink roses, or baby’s breath. Red is a natural rose color.
White Roses: Purity & Loyalty White roses are a clean and classic choice that embodies purity, youth, and innocence. The white rose may also signify love in many forms, including young love, eternal commitment, and fresh starts. Due to their connection to eternal love and loyalty, white roses are commonly used in weddings and for other romantic occasions. Common Occasions & Uses: Weddings, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, sympathy gifts. Best Paired With: Italian Ruscus, white anemones, eucalyptus, or rosemary. White is a natural rose color.
Yellow Roses: Friendship & Joy Yellow roses are bright, sunny, and full of happy energy—so it’s no surprise that they signify many traits associated with friendship, like warmth, delight, joy, and care. A bouquet of yellow roses is a meaningful gift for someone who needs a little bit of positivity or vibrancy in their life or for anyone you want to acknowledge as a true and loyal friend. During the Victorian era, however, yellow roses actually signified jealousy—but that meaning isn’t common nowadays. Common Occasions & Uses: Birthdays, Día de los Muertos, and National Friendship Day. Best Paired With: Sunflowers, orange tulips, white hydrangeas, or dried wildflowers. Yellow is a natural rose color.
Deep or Hot Pink Roses: Gratitude & Sweetness Pink roses, in general, represent innocence and sweetness. However, the deep hue of a hot pink or dark pink rose also signifies gratitude and recognition. Therefore, this shade of rose is a great choice for a “thank you” gift to anyone who you’d like to express appreciation to. Common Occasions & Uses: “Thank you” gifts, anniversaries, and Valentine’s Day. Best Paired With: White peonies, pink spray roses, sweet peas, or irises. Deep pink is a natural rose color.
Medium Pink Roses: Elegance & Cheerfulness The standard pink rose in a medium hue may represent a joyful occasion. Most commonly, medium pink roses are used to express congratulations in a graceful and elegant manner. So, they make a tasteful gift for someone who’s accomplished a significant goal. Common Occasions & Uses: Graduations, weddings, and housewarming parties. Best Paired With: Blue hydrangeas, white dahlias, or yellow roses. Medium pink is a natural rose color.
Light Pink Roses: Innocence & Admiration A light pink rose’s soft hue best embodies gentleness and appreciation for others. Their pretty and feminine shade is also associated with purity and new beginnings, so they’re often spotted at joyful events like baby showers and engagement parties. Common Occasions & Uses: Baby showers, weddings, Mother’s Day, and sympathy gifts. Best Paired With: Pincushions, yellow calla lilies, snapdragons, or sage. Light pink is a natural rose color.
Black Roses: Mourning & Hope Black roses can actually take on a variety of different meanings, but one thing’s for sure—they’re a bold and intriguing choice! While traditionally associated with death and mourning, black roses have taken on more positive meanings like new beginnings and transformative life changes. Their dark hue can also inspire confidence, courage, and hope in those who are looking to turn over a new leaf. Common Occasions & Uses: Funerals, sympathy gifts, “get well soon” gifts, promotions. Best Paired With: Dark red roses, marigolds, tiger lilies, or white calla lilies. Black is an artificially created rose color.
Blue Roses: Mystery & Dreams Blue roses evoke a sense of intrigue and uniqueness, making them a perfect choice for anyone who happily marches to the beat of their own drum. Due to its unlikely color, a blue-hued rose can also represent the impossible, so it can be a beautiful reminder to chase one’s dreams—however difficult to achieve they may seem. In some cases, they may be included in weddings to represent the couple’s “something blue.” Common Occasions & Uses: Birthdays, weddings, graduations, and promotions. Best Paired With: Eucalyptus, white hydrangeas, or all by themselves! Blue is an artificially created rose color.
Orange Roses: Desire & Excitement Thanks to their vibrant shade, orange roses are synonymous with enthusiasm, energy, and desire. They can also signify admiration and fascination, making them a great gift for anyone who’s just reached a milestone or accomplished a goal. The positive meaning of these orangey blooms also makes them a great choice for anyone you want to give some extra encouragement to (including yourself!). Common Occasions & Uses: Graduations, promotions, and housewarmings. Best Paired With: White lilies, red chrysanthemums, yellow sunflowers, or red dahlias. Orange is a natural rose color.
Green Roses: Renewal & Abundance Green roses are associated with life in all of its forms, signifying growth, fertility, rejuvenation, and plentifulness. Aside from these spiritual meanings, the green shade of these blooms may also evoke feelings of peace and balance in their recipients, making them a great gift for someone who’s feeling stressed or who’s entering a new chapter of life. Common Occasions & Uses: Baby showers, housewarmings, and “get well soon.” Best Paired With: Earth-toned spider mums, baby’s breath, or purple statice. Green is an artificially created rose color.
Purple Roses: Majesty & Connection Purple is a magical shade that’s long been connected to royalty and fairytale themes. So, purple roses are tied to enchantment, majesty, and splendor. Along these same lines, they also symbolize a magical type of love—love at first sight! The purple hues evoke attraction, sincerity, and genuine feelings of adoration and affection. Common Occasions & Uses: First dates, Valentine’s Day, and anniversaries. Best Paired With: Pink geraniums, mint, lavender, or irises. Purple is an artificially created rose color.
Lavender Roses: Enchantment & Love The striking hue of lavender roses easily lends itself to feelings of splendor, wonder, and intrigue. This meaning of a lavender rose is usually applied to the feeling of being enchanted with a new love interest…or experiencing love at first sight! Lavender roses are a great gift to show a special someone that they’ve caught your attention or that you’re caught in the splendor of true love. Common Occasions & Uses: First dates, weddings, Valentine’s Day, and anniversaries. Best Paired With: Purple carnations, pink peonies, baby’s breath, or goldenrod. Lavender is a natural rose color.
Peach Roses: Sincerity & Gratitude Peach-colored roses embody humility and genuine feelings, so they’re a great way to express your admiration or appreciation to another person. The gentle and muted pinkish hue makes it appropriate for modest celebrations or occasions like formal weddings or expressions of sympathy for a loved one. Common Occasions & Uses: Thank you gifts, sympathy gifts, weddings. Best Paired With: Ranunculus flowers, carnations, or hypericum berries. Peach is a natural rose color.
Salmon Roses: Enthusiasm & Appreciation Salmon-colored roses have a similar but slightly more muted tone than orange roses. Fittingly, salmon roses convey a similar meaning of excitement, enthusiasm, and desire. The pretty but gentle color is a lovely way to show gratitude or express your feelings of affection for someone, especially at the start of a relationship. Common Occasions & Uses: Thank you gifts, Valentine’s Day, or corporate events. Best Paired With: Peach roses, pale pink peonies, baby’s breath, or ruscus. Salmon is a natural rose color.
Burgundy Roses: Passion & Commitment The dark red shade of burgundy roses further deepens the romantic meaning of the classic red blooms—if that’s even possible! Burgundy roses convey the deepest possible intensity of passion, loyalty, and commitment to a romantic partner. They can also express the idea of an unknowing beauty—the type that might inspire an artist or poet. Common Occasions & Uses: Valentine’s Day, weddings, or anniversaries. Best Paired With: Cream peonies, blush dahlias, and dark purple calla lilies. Burgundy is a natural rose color.
Ivory Roses: Thoughtfulness & Charm Though similar in shade to the white rose, an ivory rose actually has its own distinct meaning. Ivory roses (or cream roses) represent generosity, consideration, grace, and charm. They also signify richness and perfection, making them an excellent gift to celebrate a partner or loved one who embodies these traits. Common Occasions & Uses: Weddings, birthdays, and engagements. Best Paired With: Eucalyptus, pink peonies, lavender, or monstera. Ivory is a natural rose color.
Gold Roses: Luxury & Loyalty With their rich and unique shade, golden roses are easily connected to wealth, opulence, and status. This meaning likely derives from the tradition of popes bestowing golden roses to royal figures. They are often used as a sign of friendship, so they’d be a great gift for a friend who’s looking to spend their birthday or other celebration in a luxurious, pampering environment. Alternatively, a golden rose can also represent new beginnings, especially those filled with hope for harmony, peace, and eternal love. Common Occasions & Uses: Birthdays, Christmas, baby showers, weddings. Best Paired With: Marigolds, daisies, peach roses, burgundy dahlias, or eucalyptus. Gold is an artificially created rose color.
Rainbow Roses: Unity & Happiness Rainbow roses are unique, vibrant, and exciting, featuring a combination of all the colors of the rainbow in a single bloom. Their petals signify the strength and importance of unity in diversity, as well as feelings of happiness and joy. Common Occasions & Uses: Diversity and inclusivity events, birthdays, and anniversaries. Best Paired With: White hydrangeas, eucalyptus, or black tulips. Rainbow is an artificially created rose color.
Combining Rose Colors
Combine different rose colors to convey two meanings at once. If you can’t decide on just one meaning for your arrangement of roses, then you can combine multiple hues to personalize the message of your bouquet! There are two ways to do this: you can simply combine two different varieties of roses in a single bouquet, or you can choose multicolored roses that feature one or more colors on their petals. For example, if you wanted to convey both friendship and love, you might make a bouquet with a mix of yellow and red roses, or you might choose a bouquet of roses that have yellow petals but red tips. Similarly, you can combine pink and orange roses in one bouquet to convey both affection and excitement, or you can choose a bouquet of roses with a pink-orange swirl on their petals. Aside from meaning, Walker also recommends considering the overall mood when combining floral colors. “If you want a moody-hued arrangement, for instance, I would choose more of a gray or deep green, and then choose…more dusty…or deep colors.” Or you can do a “high contrast to the flower for a more happy or bright mood,” continues Walker, “because then you get that super high contrast of a bright green with a fuschia or a bright yellow.”
Choosing the Right Rose Color for Different Occasions
Weddings If you’re picking out rose colors for a wedding, consider each color’s symbolism as well as the wedding’s overall color palette. Some of the most common rose colors for weddings include white, red, and pink, largely due to their associations with love, romance, purity, and affection. So, if you’d like a more traditional look for your wedding flowers, then these shades make for an excellent choice. However, it’s also important to consider the wedding’s overall theme and color palette. For instance, if the color palette is lavender and green, using yellow roses as decor may create a clashing or busy effect. Similarly, if a wedding has a dark, moody theme, then black or burgundy roses may be more appropriate than peach or orange shades. It’s important to carefully consider the shade (or shades) of roses used for a wedding. Roses are used extensively in many weddings, from the altar backdrop and the bridal bouquet to the table centerpieces and groomsmen’s boutonnieres.
Valentine’s Day The most traditional rose colors to give on Valentine’s Day are red, pink, and white roses since all of these colors are associated with love and romantic relationships. However, the exact shade you choose may depend on the exact nature of the relationship you have with the recipient. For instance, you might give red roses to a committed romantic partner and pink roses to a partner you’re happy with or whom you have a secret crush on. White roses, similarly, are great for a new relationship or a pair of young lovers. Other appropriate rose colors for Valentine’s Day include orange roses (which show enthusiasm or the desire to transition a friendship to a romantic relationship), lavender roses (which express enchantment and love at first sight), and salmon roses (which show desire and excitement). It may be worth straying from the traditional Valentine’s Day rose colors to further personalize your gifted bouquet. For example, consider choosing roses according to the recipient’s favorite color or the shade associated with their birthday month or astrological sign. Zúñiga emphasizes the importance of considering someone’s mood and personality when choosing the right roses for them. “If this is somebody who’s very goth, then sending red roses that are almost bloody or black [roses] to cheer them up will work because that’s what they like.” Alternatively, continues Zúñiga, “Somebody else might appreciate cheerful colors, bright colors, or lighter colors to better elevate their mood.”
Anniversaries Similar to Valentine’s Day, the best roses for relationship and wedding anniversaries are those that signify love, like red, pink, white, and purple roses. Red roses are the traditional choice for anniversaries since they represent deep romantic love—the darker the shade of red, the more intense the love expressed. Other colors, like pink, white, and purple, can represent harmonious love, young love, and love at first sight, respectively. You could also cater the amount of roses in your bouquet to the amount of years (or months) that you and your partner have been together. For example, arrange eight roses into your bouquet for your 8th wedding anniversary.
Mother’s Day The most common color for Mother’s Day roses is yellow since they indicate happiness, friendship, and joy—so, if you want to express those feelings to your mother, go for a sunshiny bouquet! Pink is another common choice, as it conveys grace, kindness, gratitude, and femininity to a mother or maternal figure. You might also choose white colors to honor a deceased mother or an expecting mother, or just choose your mom’s favorite color for your rose bouquet!
Birthdays Yellow roses are a classic choice for birthdays as they symbolize joy, friendship, and warmth. They’re also cheerful flowers that carry no romantic intent, making them ideal for celebrating the birth and life of a close friend or loved one. In general, brightly-colored roses (like orange or peach) are good choices for a birthday celebration—otherwise, just choose a bouquet that matches the favorite color of the birthday guy or gal!
Funerals White roses are the most common hue chosen for funerals. Because white roses symbolize purity and peace, they’re generally considered to be the most appropriate shade for memorializing a deceased loved one. However, pink roses may also be used to express admiration or black roses may be chosen to express grief and mourning. Keep differing cultural associations in mind when choosing colors, warns Zúñiga. “In certain cultures, certain colors can represent negative emotion. White can in and of itself represent death, so sometimes people will want white and some cultures actually don’t want white for a funeral service.” Zúñiga recommends thinking about if “part of [your] family happens to be in this culture…[and] doing a quick Google search…[to] find out if this color is going to offend them if it’s used in the decor or arrangement.”
Where do different rose colors come from?
Rose colors are natural or artificial through cross-breeding and dying. Some rose colors are natural, meaning that they grow naturally in nature without any human intervention. Natural rose colors include red, pink, white, yellow, orange, and lavender (among others). New shades can also be developed naturally through a process called cross-pollination, where one flower pollinates another with the help of wind, rain, and pollinating insects. Other varieties are artificial, leading to unnatural shades like blue, green, black, rainbow, and more. These shades are typically created through a color-dying process using absorption, spray, or dip dyes. Absorption dyes work by placing white or light-colored roses in a solution of warm water and plant-based dye. This liquid is absorbed through the roses’ stems, and the pigment eventually works its way up to color the petals. This same effect can sometimes be achieved with food coloring. Spray and dip dyes also achieve a vibrant petal shade, but they’re applied directly to the petals rather than absorbed. Spray dyes also sometimes have the added benefits of helping rose blooms last longer and retain more moisture.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rose Colors
Which rose color represents love? Red-colored roses are the most well-known flower for representing and expressing love. Red roses can also represent concepts that are associated with love, like romance, passion, and desire. Other rose colors that represent love include pink, white, orange, purple, and burgundy.
Which rose color is most beautiful? Beauty is subjective, so each individual may have a different rose color that they perceive as the most beautiful. However, red roses are often considered the most iconic and romantic, making them a good go-to choice for special occasions (including Valentine’s Day).
What do 12 roses symbolize? A bouquet of 12 roses (or a dozen roses) represents a romantic gesture symbolizing love, commitment, and a desire for eternal love. This meaning is due to the number twelve’s association with completeness, perfection, and a finished cycle. In a nutshell, someone gifting you a dozen roses is a way for them to say that they love you.
What do 7 roses symbolize? A bouquet of 7 roses may symbolize infatuation, admiration, or appreciation. A bit more subtle and nuanced than the traditional dozen, an arrangement of seven roses may convey that someone is infatuated with you or that you have a secret admirer. While the exact origin of this symbolism isn’t certain, it’s possible that the cultural connection between the number 7 and good fortune may have something to do with it—i.e., giving someone seven roses is a way to express how lucky you feel to know them.
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