Many of us relate Valentine's Day to red roses. This is because the red roses are considered to be the symbol of love. You might be thinking there are plenty of varieties of flowers in the world, so why does only the rose have the privilege of being the symbol of love?

There are around 400,000 species of flowers existing in this universe. Many of them are as beautiful and pleasing as roses, but none of them are the symbol of love. On Valentine’s Day, people follow the centuries-old tradition and give red roses to the object of their affection.

This is what evidences the consideration of red roses as a symbol of love and romance. You may have wondered why many times, right? Let’s take a brief stroll through the history of red roses being such a long-lasting symbol of love.

Roses and the Romans

Roses were one of the well-known flowers throughout the Roman period. They were used there for medicinal purposes, and for making confetti, and perfumes. Newly married couples used to wear rose crowns, and their beds in the bedrooms would be completely covered in red rose petals. This is something that links love to roses, making roses an ever-lasting symbol of love and romance.

Shakespeare’s Favorite Flower

You may get flabbergasted to know but it's true that the word ‘rose’ appears more than 70 times in Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets in the 16th century. Not any other but the rose that he mentioned the most throughout his creations.

Right in the initial lines of the Adonis, and Venus the bard describes his male hero as “rose-cheeked”, which references the aforementioned Greek myth. Furthermore, in the famous “Romeo and Juliet”, Juliet of the House of Capulet argues her case to love loving Romeo, of the House of Montague. Do you know what the line was? It was what we call a rose. Yes, this is what shows how affectionate Shakespeare was with red roses.

Magical Rose Myths

According to the evidence by Fossil, the rose is around 35 million years old, hence, it's little wonder that it tends to crop up in several ancient stories!

You may have realized that the ‘rose’ happens to be an anagram of Eros, that is the Greek god of love. Greek mythology states that Chloris, who was the goddess of flowers, once was walking through the woods at the moment when she came across a lifeless nymph. Deeply saddened by its unnatural and untimely demise, she tended to transform it into a flower that was so beautiful that it would judge the Queen of Flowers by all of Mount Olympus. Aphrodite, who was the mother of Eros and the goddess of love named it ‘rose’ in honor of her son.

Learning the Language of Flowers

At the time of the Victorian era of the 19th century, there were lovers who would use floriography, or you could say ‘the language of flowers’. This was to send covert messages amongst them via posies which were known as nosegays. In the very floral dictionary, the red rose symbolizes passion, love, romance, and devotion. The way was used to say, “I love you”. This was because the verbal expression of that sort of sentiment was considered socially inappropriate.

Conclusion

That’s all there’s to it! That’s how the roses became a sign of love and affection throughout the era. Right from movies to Shakespeare’s poems, roses have always been considered symbols of love. Now that you’ve come to know the history of roses, you might be eager to buy one and gift your loved one. If you’re, you can find an amazing range of red roses at the Flowers Next Door. So order now to make the day of your loved one amazing!