Floral tattoos: Language of flowers

With more and more women sporting tattoos, flower tattoos designs have become very popular. Although it is common knowledge that different flowers vary in their symbolism, some of us might not be aware of floriography, the language of flowers.

In the Victorian days, flowers and floral arrangements were used as a means of communication to express emotions that otherwise could not be spoken.

The language of flowers is known as floriography. Its creation is based on a combination of ancient cultures, folklores, literature, mythologies, religions, and the distinguishing characteristics of the plants.

The floral symbolism was most commonly communicated through flower bouquets, Tussie-Mussies. Different flowers and their combinations were used to convey feelings or messages that can be either positive or negative.

In general, both Eastern and Western cultures associated flowers with femininity. However, the same flower can have different meanings and sentiments, sometimes contradictory, due to the differences in cultures and eras.

Listed below is a list (in alphabetical order) of the meanings and sentiments of ten types of flowers that are commonly used in tattoos:

In ancient Greece, the carnation was known as ‘divine flower’ because of its beauty and fragrance.

In France and Francophone culture, carnation signifies misfortune and bad luck, being a traditional funeral flower.

Here are the meanings for the different colours’ carnations:

Green carnation: symbol of homosexuality

Pink carnation: symbol of mother’s love, I’ll always remember you

Purple carnation: antipathy, capriciousness

Red carnation: admiration, pure love

Striped carnation: maybe, indecision, refusal

White carnation: endearment, good-luck gift to woman, innocence, pure love

Yellow carnation: rejection, disdain

Mixed colours' carnations: pride, beauty, health, energy

In Japanese poems, the chrysanthemum is a metaphor for homosexuality.

As the symbol of the imperial seal of Japan is a yellow or orange chrysanthemum, these two colours chrysanthemums are imperial or royal symbol.

However, the white chrysanthemums are symbolic of death, being used only for funerals or on graves in some European countries (e.g. Italy, France, Poland, etc.).

To the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans, white chrysanthemums are symbolic of lamentation and/or grief.

Red chrysanthemum can be used to signify love while a yellow one stands for slighted love.

Forget-me-Not represents fidelity, friendship, loving remembrance, and true love.

In the 15^th century, the Germans believed that the wearer of this flower would not be forgotten by the lover.

Various colours of irises denote the following:

Blue iris: faith and hope, good news, glad tidings

Purple iris: wisdom and compliments

White iris: purity, virtue

Yellow iris: passion

Lily symbolizes beauty, elegance and sweetness. Different colours and species convey different meanings:

Orange lily: hatred and revenge

White lily: symbol of peace, purity, sweetness, chastity

Yellow lily: gaiety

Lily of the Valley: humility, return of happiness, sweetness

Red Spider Lily: abandonment, lost memory, never to meet again

Tiger Lily: pride, prosperity

Known as the sacred lily of China, Narcissus is the symbol of purity and promise. It can also stand for deceit, egotism, good fortune, joyousness, mirth, respect, regard, self-esteem, and unrequited love.

From the same family of narcissus is the daffodil. The yellow narcissus and daffodil symbolize chivalry in the Victorian times.

The Chinese considered peony to be the King of flowers, flower fairy and flower of prosperity. Peony generally symbolizes elegance, good luck, wealth, happy marriage, virility, and longevity.

However, in the Victorian days, peony was used to denote shame or bashfulness.

The poppy is generally symbolic of sleep, oblivion, rest, repose, imagination and extravagance.

Red poppy is a consolation symbol as it is used as a commemoration for those who died in war. On the other hand, it also denotes pleasure or fantastic extravagance.

Scarlet poppy stands for fantastic extravagance.

White poppy represents consolation, sleep, or rejoices.

Yellow poppy signifies wealth or success.

At the beginning of the 16^th century, prisoners on death row were tattooed with roses for easy identification.

In modern days, roses usually symbolize love and passion. However, different colours of roses do have their own meanings, such as:

Blue rose: mystery, attaining the impossible

Coral rose: desire

Orange rose: desire, enthusiasm

Peach rose: anticipation, closing the deal, desire, let’s get together, optimism

Pink rose: affection, appreciation, confidence, elegance, gracefulness, happiness, trust

Red rose: beauty, in love, passion, romantic love

Violet rose: love at first sight

White rose: chastity, devotion, humility, innocence, purity, sincerity, virtue, youthfulness

Yellow rose: devotion, friendship, infidelity, jealousy, joy, true and undying love, a new beginning

Combination of red and white roses: unity

Combination of red and yellow roses: joy

Tulip is considered the symbol of perfect love and fame. Different colours of tulips can have different symbolism:

Red tulip: declaration of love, charity, fame, perfect lover, trust

Striped tulip: beautiful eyes

Tulip with a black centre: heart burned from love

Yellow tulip: one-sided love

Besides the abovementioned flowers, there are several hundreds kinds of flowers that can be used for floral tattoo designs (e.g. cherry blossoms). However, it is best to find out all the possible hidden meanings of a certain flower before you get a tattoo of it.

A comprehensive list of flower meanings is easily obtainable from online flower meanings' dictionaries.

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