Dead Rose Tattoo Meaning
Roses are nothing new to the world of tattooing. People of all ages and backgrounds get rose tattoos or incorporate them into their tattoo designs. However, the image of a dead rose is also a popular choice among tattoo enthusiasts. But what do dead rose tattoos mean?
Dead rose tattoos have several meanings. Typically, dead rose tattoos symbolize the loss of a family member, friend, or loved one. However, they can also represent the loss of trust, innocence, and joy and can be used as a way to heal from past traumas.
Dead rose tattoos generally have a darker meaning and symbolize loss, pain, trauma, and sadness. If you want to know more about why these tattoos are so popular and what they represent, our article can help.
Traditional Rose Symbolism
Rose tattoos are nothing new. Many tattoo enthusiasts enjoy incorporating this beautiful flower into their tattoo pieces. Before understanding the symbolism behind a dying rose, it’s important to understand the traditional meaning behind rose tattoos.
Rose Color Symbolism
When you think of roses, chances are you think of a bunch of vivid red roses. But roses come in various colors, and each has a unique meaning. Rose tattoos that have colorful petals may symbolize some of these ideas.
Firstly, a red rose traditionally symbolizes love. Red roses are given to romantic partners and are a way to express love and romantic affection. However, yellow roses are typically given to close friends. Yellow roses are generally given to others to symbolize friendship and close relationships.
Lastly, pink roses are associated with feelings of joy and gratitude. Pink roses are given to others to celebrate happy occasions and represent joy.
Rose Tarot Card Symbolism
People who practice spirituality are typically familiar with roses and what they symbolize. Roses are prominent and influential symbols that may represent wisdom, purity, and balance.
The Fool card usually depicts an image of the Fool holding a single white rose. This rose symbolizes purity and innocence. Similarly, the Magician card generally depicts a powerful magician surrounded by bushels of red roses. In this instance, the rose represents wisdom and knowledge.
If you’re doing a tarot reading and you pull the Strength card, you may notice a woman adorned with roses. The woman is also typically depicted petting a lion. The contrast between the gentle actions of the woman and the strong, proud lion represents balance.
Rose tattoos may symbolize one of these spiritual meanings. Typically, people get these rose tattoos to feel more connected to their spirituality and the attributes they identify with.
Roman Rose Symbolism
In Roman tradition, roses symbolize secrets and trust. Romans would share secrets and have private conversations with their closest confidants underneath upside-down roses. Over time, roses have been used to symbolize confidentiality and secrets. Additionally, they symbolize a close and trusting relationship with friends, family, and loved ones.
Upside-down rose tattoos are used to represent these ideas of trust and close-knit relationships.
Blooming Rose Symbolism
Blooming roses or rose buds may symbolize the start of a new romantic relationship or the start of a new chapter. Because red roses are associated with love, a red rose in bloom will typically represent a new relationship with a loved one.
These tattoos are less common than others but can be incorporated into other tattoo designs to symbolize the start of something new – whether it’s a new path, relationship, or outlook on life.
Dead Rose Tattoo Symbolism
Now that you have a better idea of what roses symbolize in tattoo artistry, you can understand the hidden meaning of dead rose tattoos.
Dead Rose Color Symbolism
Red roses symbolize love, while yellow roses symbolize friendship. Additionally, pink roses represent joy and gratitude. But if you see a tattoo of a dead rose that incorporates one of these colors, it could have a much deeper meaning.
A dead red rose may symbolize the death of a romantic relationship or the loss of a partner. It can mark the end of a significant relationship and may be used to honor a spouse or partner that has passed.
Alternatively, dead yellow roses can symbolize the death of a close friend or the loss of a significant friendship in your life. While most people outgrow friendships and grow apart over time, losing someone close to you can significantly impact your life.
Lastly, dead pink roses are used to symbolize losing joy. It can represent darker emotions like depression and anxiety or significant events in your life.
Dead Rose Tarot Symbolism
While traditional tarot cards use roses to symbolize positive spiritual attributes like wisdom, purity, and balance, dead roses often represent the opposite meanings. These dead roses may be encapsulated in the image of a tarot card or stand alone to represent the death or loss of these attributes.
However, the most common use of a dead rose tattoo symbolizes the loss of innocence or purity. These tattoos are typically used as a way to come to terms with and heal from traumas experienced in early childhood.
Dead Rose Roman Symbolism
Because upside-down roses represent trust and close relationships, a dead rose tattooed upside down may represent losing a confidant or being betrayed by someone close to you. The death of this rose typically symbolizes losing the trust that you thought you had.
Dying Rose Symbolism
Blooming roses may symbolize the start of something new and exciting. On the other hand, a dead rose can symbolize the death of something that holds significance. But what does a dying rose symbolize?
Dying roses that are wilting and losing petals may symbolize losing a part of your identity or closing a significant chapter in your life. Typically, dying roses are not used as bad omens. Instead, they are used to show growth and healing by losing a piece of yourself that may have been negative.
Conclusion
Traditionally, roses symbolize positive experiences and relationships. When someone gets a dead rose tattooed on their body, it can sometimes hold the opposite meaning and reflect negative experiences they have gone through in their life.
However, it’s important to remember that tattoos hold personal meanings for individuals, so they may have this tattoo as a symbol of something significant or because they enjoy the aesthetic!
Some of my favorite designs, tattoo books, and aftercare products, selected for you
Thank you for reading my article, I hope that you have found it helpful. If you would have trouble finding ideas for your tattoo, wonder what is meaning of design that you have found or what to buy for aftercare, to make sure that your tattoo will be healing quickly and easily, here are some of my favorite products in one place, hope that this will also help.
Design and tattoo ideas
For some ideas you can have a look at those 3 books with hundreds of designs that I use with my clients, they are available on Amazon for Kindle or in classic, paper version (links below):
- Great Book of Tattoo Designs, Revised Edition: More than 500 Body Art Designs (Fox Chapel Publishing) Fantasy, Celtic, Floral, Wildlife, and Symbol Designs for the Skin by Lora Irish
- The Big Book of Small Tattoos – Vol.1: 400 small original tattoos for women and men by Roberto Gemori
- Tiny Tattoos: Over 1,000 Small Inspirational Artworks by Rebecca Vincent.
Tattoo meaning
If you would like to read more about the meaning of different tattoo styles and designs before you will decide what you would like to have, I can recommend a book that was really useful for me when I was starting my tattoo adventure – it’s “Conscious Ink: The Hidden Meaning of Tattoos” by Lisa Barretta (through the link you can find it on Amazon for around $10).
Tattoo aftercare
The skin at the tattoo site often dries out. To prevent it and speed up healing for my clients, I usually recommend one of those tattoo aftercare balms (you can find them on Amazon):
