Since times immemorial, a red rose is associated with undying love and passion. They have endured all these years and still continue to be the most classic gift to express your love and tell your loved one that you take their breath away! But why the red rose, especially when you have roses and other flowers available in a range of colors? Why only the red rose is the declaration of love and the only flower related to the deep and passionate feelings of heart? Why roses are the subtle expression for the most overwhelming of the feelings? Let us unravel the enduring link between love and roses and find out why no other flower can say it all as roses do?
Whether you want to deliver flowers online in India to your loved one or a bud, the red rose is a timeless way to express your feelings. Sending roses and interpreting their meaning when somebody sends you a bunch is a no brainer. Millions of people every year, exchange roses and vows to be with each other on Valentine’s Day and wedding anniversaries. It is quite intriguing that when red is the colour of love, then why only roses are the chosen representatives for love but not just any other red flowers like daisies, carnation or tulips. What makes red roses the epitome of love and passion? Why our hearts flutter with excitement and anticipation when we receive red roses?
Roses: Yesterday, Today and Forever
It is believed that roses were originated in China and are around 35,000 years. Their cultivation only started 5,000 years ago. We might have come a long way from then but their popularity has not dulled even a bit. Red roses have always been a symbol of love, luxury and passion. Poets like Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun compared the red rose with female sexuality that could teach anybody the ‘art of love.’ It is also believed that Victorians used red roses to express intimacy in public settings because it was considered immoral and unacceptable at that time to profess one’s feelings in front of others. Mary Brooks in her book, ‘Silent Needles, Speaking Flowers’ writes on ladies’ restrictive roles in Roman society and flowers being the only way to communicate covertly. It only seemed just and relevant to assign a meaning to each and every bloom and communicate. Flowers were in abundance then and of course, domestically available as well as appropriate.
Roses, it seems, captivated them with their beauty and fragrance. And what of course, could be better than the roses standing for the most beautiful of worldly feelings, otherwise known as love? Arielle Eckstut in her book, ‘The Secret Language of Color’ compares the red hue of a rose with the blush on someone’s face owing to the desire, attraction and love. She believes that the beauty of the rose is further enhanced by its fragrance.
Faith, Love and Pop: The Connection between Roses and Humans
In Western Culture, the significance and origin of roses date back to Greek mythology. According to the belief, the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, cried tears and blood over her and her lover, Adonis’ ill fate, which later on became red roses. Another version of this folklore entails Goddess Aphrodite pricking her toe on a thorn and bleeding, thus, turning the white roses into the red.
Roses have been a symbol of love and the well-guarded secret of lovers forever. While they tell the story of divine love of Adonis and Aphrodite, they also express the silence that Cupid asked the God of Silence to maintain to stay hush about Venus’ love.
Romans would fill their bedroom with red rose petals to keep their chambers fragrant and bed softer before their romantic encounters. Romans also had roses carved on the roofs of dining chambers to urge guests to keep quiet and not to take family conversations over dinner outside. In fact, ‘under the rosa’ or ‘sub rosa’ still means a pact of confidentiality. In Christianity, a thornless rose is believed to be the symbol of the Virgin Mary. The folklore has it that the roses were all thornless until the ‘Original Sin’ was committed. The picture of the Virgin Mary with the rose is also a prominent picture on the entrance of Gothic cathedrals.
The rosaries, a series of prayers to the Virgin Mary, get their name from rose. The roses also take a center stage when they bloom out of nowhere and believe to be a miracle and an act of God.
In Pop culture too, roses make an appearance to emphasis the shroud of secrecy and mystery. In movies like V for Vendetta, Beauty and the Beast, roses enhance the romance and mystery on screen. A rebel leaving a red rose beside the victims and a handsome prince turned into a beast, waiting to be loved unconditionally before a magical red rose sheds its petals.
An ancient Arabic legend has a nightingale pining for white rose and bleeding from the thorn, thus, turning the white rose into the red. In the 20th century, d to your loved one is the simplest and easiest way to let your loved one know how much you love them!
All these legends, however unbelievable they sound or ancient they are, tie the romance, love and overwhelming passion to roses.
Shakespeare has also used rose as a metaphor to express beauty and romance in his every creation, right from a Midsummer Night’s Dream to Cleopatra. Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet, compared his love with a rose in his poem, ‘Red, Red Rose.’
A red rose is all you need to proclaim your love! Sending roses to your special someone makes them feel special and cared for –in your budget and without letting you go that extra mile! What more could you ask for? So, don’t wait and send some roses today!
