Don’t Be Afraid Of A Rose Tattoo (and if you are, get temporary tattoo roses!).
A tattoo rose design (whether real or temporary) is a symbol of love in all its forms. However, it can take many different forms and can represent different things depending on the person’s viewpoint. The red rose is particularly popular. Sometimes, the tattoo rose design can have the name of a loved-one near or on it. Many folks have the image of a rose blended into another image, such as a rosebush with a snake curling around a dagger.
Symbol Of Love
Rose tattoos (and temporary tattoo roses) are often symbolic of a particular love of the person the tattoo is on – even if the love is just for roses themselves. Red roses were once consecrated to the Greek Goddess of love, Aphrodite and Her Roman Counterpart, Venus. Red roses are also associated with the Virgin Mary. Whenever she is supposed to appear, the scent of roses is reported to be very strong in the air or permeating the person who had the Marion vision. Some people equate love with romance and the sexual act – some with caring to the point of self sacrifice.
The Fair English Rose!
A beautiful Englishwoman is usually referred to as “an English rose”. This was popularized during Shakespeare’s day with sonnets like “O my love is like a red rose”. Roses are also the family symbols of two long lived and possibly still feuding families, the Lancasters (red rose) and the Yorks (white rose). Any city or town in England or America named York or Lancaster usually has the appropriately colored roses as their symbol. Therefore, don’t be surprised if that white rose tattoo means the wearer was born and raised in York, Pennsylvania. In England, red roses are also the symbol of the Labor Party, currently the dominant political party.
Guns ‘N’ Roses (rock on!)
Many fans of the popular hard rock band Guns ‘n’ Roses (popular in the late 1980′s), will have tattoos of guns and roses. This is a kind of yin-yang symbol for fans: a symbol of contrasting images making a whole. The fragile, soft, natural side clashing with the solid, hard manufactured side. Also, the guns and roses tattoo looks very cool indeed!
Horse Racing Fans (eh?)
The winner of the Kentucky Derby traditionally gets a blanket of roses (the owner, meanwhile, gets stacks of cash and a trophy!). If you see somebody with a rose tattoo AND a horse tattoo, then this is usually a tribute to a fallen hero in the Derby.