Floral Tattoos
Trends in tattoos may come and go, but florals will probably never go out of style. From tribal patterns and the classic traditional rose to the dainty watercolours and single needle peonies of latter years, flowers are some of the most requested motives of all times. Floral tattoos can be aesthetically pleasing but also deeply symbolic. Let’s take a closer look at some of the styles floral tattoos are most prevalent in, but also the symbolic meaning behind some of the more popular floral designs and their colours.
Long history of flora in tattooing
Traditional tribal tattooing often used fauna and flora to symbolise characteristics, qualities, or important events in the individual’s life. Symbols and patterns represented in nature functioned as tattoo storytelling, and to create a sense of identity. Often it would be tied to an individual’s birthplace, also denoting community and belonging to a certain tribe.
When tattoos became popular in the West, the American Traditional flower became one of the most iconic and easily recognisable motives. The more feminine qualities of the floral motives create a contrast to the more masculine form of the bold traditional style of tattooing, and makes for an interesting juxtaposition.
Rose tattoos
Roses have been and continue to be one of the most requested floral motives in traditional tattooing. Classically, roses are considered to symbolise love and romance. However, their meaning can extend far beyond that, especially when colours are taken into consideration. While red roses most certainly carry a connotation of love in many cultures across the world, pink roses express gratitude and admiration. Green roses represent nature, rejuvenation, and fertility. Black roses may have traditionally symbolised physical death, but today they have come to symbolically represent the death of old patterns, habits, structures, or limiting beliefs. Yellow roses signify friendship and happiness. However, a blue rose is a symbol of something (or someone) just out of reach.
Roses are often paired with other symbols, like in the traditional rose and dagger tattoo. In Christian iconography, the ‘immaculate heart of Mary’ (burning and encircled by white roses) sometimes has a single sword piercing through it. This is said to represent the sorrows endured during her lifetime but most particularly during the cruxifixction of her son.
Meanwhile, the heart and dagger is also a symbol of another religious figure – Erzulie Dantor of Haitian Voodoo. She is the protector or women and children, and fights against the injustices committed towards them by society. She is often portrayed after the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, an icon of the Virgin Mary in Poland, so the two are linked in more ways than one.
There are many more styles, flowers and their symbolism to unpack, so check back in a few days time to find more from us on the fascinating world of floral tattooing.