Roses have been long used as symbols in a number of societies. Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. "Rose" means pink or red in a variety of languages (such as Romance languages, Greek, and Polish). The rose was sacred to a number of goddesses (including Isis and Aphrodite), and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love, Aphrodite and Venus. In Rome a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed. The phrase sub rosa, or "under the rose", means to keep a secret — derived from this ancient Roman practice.
Early Christians identified the five petals of the rose with the five wounds of Christ. Despite this interpretation, their leaders were hesitant to adopt it because of its association with Roman excesses and pagan ritual. The red rose was eventually adopted as a symbol of the blood of the Christian martyrs. Roses also later came to be associated with the Virgin Mary.
Rose culture came into its own in Europe in the 19th century with the introduction of perpetual blooming roses from China. There are currently thousands of varieties of roses developed for bloom shape, size, fragrance and even for lack of prickles.
The rose is the national flower of England.[1][2] The use of the rose as an emblem dates from the reign of Henry VII who chose a red rose, representing Lancaster, and a white rose, representing York,[1] as a result the English civil wars in the 15th century came to be called the Wars of the Roses (thus each is the provincial flower of Lancashire and Yorkshire),[3] as well as being the symbol of England Rugby, and of the Rugby Football Union since 1871.[2]
In 1986 it was named the floral emblem of the United States,[4] and it is the provincial flower of Alberta (the wild rose) in Canada, and of Islamabad Capital Territory in Pakistan. It is the state flower of four US states: Iowa and North Dakota (R. arkansana), Georgia (R. laevigata), and New York[5] (Rosa generally). Portland, Oregon counts "City of Roses" among its nicknames, and holds an annual Rose Festival, as does Pasadena, California, holding the Tournament of Roses Parade since 1890 in conjunction with the Rose Bowl since 1902.
Roses are occasionally the basis of design for rose windows, such windows comprising five or ten segments (the five petals and five sepals of a rose) or multiples thereof; however most Gothic rose windows are much more elaborate and were probably based originally on the wheel and other symbolism.
A red rose (often held in a hand) is a symbol of socialism or social democracy: it is used as a symbol by British, Irish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Brazilian, Dutch, Bulgarian and other European labour, socialist or social democratic parties, mostly adopted in the period after World War II.[6]
The White Rose was a World War II non violent resistance group in Germany.
A bouquet of red roses is often used to show love. It is used as a Valentine's Day gift in many countries.
On St George's Day in Catalonia people offer dark red roses as gifts, especially between lovers. The Virolai, a hymn to the Virgin of Montserrat, one of the black Madonnas of Europe, begins with the words: "Rosa d’abril, Morena de la serra..." (April rose, dusky lady of the mountain chain...). Therefore this virgin is sometimes known as “Rosa d’abril”. The red rose is thus widely accepted as an unofficial symbol of Catalonia.[7]
The rose can symbolize the following: