Flower Tattoos and Their Meanings

At some point in our lives, we would experience the joy appreciating the beauty of flowers, the happiness in giving flowers or and the excitement of receiving them. A flower itself does not have any meaning, just like a cat or a fish. But it's the human emotion that gives a certain value to it and our interpretation gives it a consistent meaning over time. For example, you will see a man giving a bunch of red roses to express his admiration and love to a woman. But you will hardly see anyone with the same bunch of red roses at a funeral. The meanings of the same flower would evoke different emotions with different implications on a different context.

It is the same with flower tattoos. Different flower tattoos would evoke a different emotion and therefore a different meaning to the beholder. Not only the women are getting flower tattoos, some men like to ink them too. Most flowers have acquired a consistent meaning over time, but when you combine it with a different object in a tattoo, the meanings get altered altogether.

The fact is that flower tattoo designs are going to be popular. Dragons are popular with men but flowers are most sought after by women. Maybe it's the color, or the shape, or the scent of it or a combination of all the senses that makes people want to see, touch and smell it. Flowers can calm a person and gives you a sense of peace. Having a flower tattoo inked on your body is like having a permanent flower with you all the time, except this particular flower does not withered over time.

What most tattoo artists are concern about is the customer who is not sure of what she is tattooing and would like to change the design after the tattoo is permanently inked on the body. The sad truth is that tattoos cannot be removed easily without some form of scarring and pain. The reasons for wanting to change the design are varied, but one of the common reasons is that they did not understand the meaning of the flower tattoo until much later. So to prevent this kind of 'accidentally' tattooing the wrong flower on your body, here is a list of common flowers tattoos and their meanings.

1. Meaning of Rose Tattoo
Rose tattoos are stunning when done tastefully on a woman. So far it is the most popular tattoo with the females although we have seen men with rose tattoos. Somehow men shun away from flowers because the flower tattoo would mean a soft and gentle character and towards a feminine personality. It's is quite weird to see a huge macho muscular male with six packs and a flower tattoo on his arm. But if that flower tattoo is combined with a skull, then the softer meaning of the flower would be even out by the skull, which would mean guts, courage and fearless.

Different types of roses have different meanings. For example, the red rose means sincere love and respect, courage and passion. You have seen in the movies or maybe even done it yourself and give a red rose to a loved one to express your love and passion. So instead of giving a rose to a love one, you may want to tattoo the rose with her name on it on your arm or your chest. That way, that flower tattoo would mean you love and respect her forever. (But no skulls please) If you are able to get the tattoo artist to add in some colors to the flower tattoo, you may want to consider a yellow rose tattoo. Yellow roses meant jealousy in Victorian times. But in our contemporary world, they signify friendship, joy, gladness and freedom, the promise of a new beginning. A pink rose tattoo means grace and gentle, a white rose means spirituality and purity and a lavender rose means love at first sight. A blue rose tattoo means mystery and symbolizes "achieving the impossible". A black rose tattoo symbolizes death, either you are mourning the death of a love one or you are very pessimistic.

2. Meaning of Hibiscus Tattoo
The hibiscus flower is another popular flower tattoo with tattoo artists. The hibiscus flower is most commonly seen in the tropical country but is less often used as a gift. The hibiscus flower belongs to the family Malvaceae. It gets its name from the Greek words Hibiscus meaning "mallow" and rosa-sinensis meaning "Rose of China". The flower itself means delicate beauty. If you decide to ink the hibiscus flower tattoo, then other than its aesthetic attraction, it would symbolize exquisite and elegance. It would also mean you have grace and charm. Depending on the combination of colors, the hibiscus flower tattoo can really enhance a person's grace. You can combine the red flower tattoo with bright green petals. That would be really charming.

3. Meaning of Lily Tattoo
The Lily flowers are cherished for their fresh and calming colors and can be used for many occasions, like visiting a sick friend in the hospital. Lily has been an important flower ever since the Biblical period. According to the Bible, petals of white lily signify virginity, purity and the radiant soul of Virgin Mary. The Chinese and the Greeks have also used white lily to symbolize purity. To the Chinese, the lily flower is used to symbolize summer and abundance. The Greeks believe that Lilies were born out of the breast milk of Goddess Hera. The Lily flower is also associated with the Roman Goddess Venus. So inking the Lily tattoo would mean purity of the person and you want the tattoo to symbolize peace and harmony.

4. Meaning of Lotus Tattoo
In Buddhism the lotus flower is a symbol of enlightenment. All the petals means the different constant struggles in our lives and the center of the flower represents the state of enlightenment. The development of the lotus from ground up symbolizes the awakening to the spiritual reality of life. For the Buddhists, Lotus symbolizes the most exalted state of man, his head held high and his feet rooted in the world of experience. You can see the Lotus flower carved into every platform supporting a statue of Buddha. It is a very powerful symbol and meaning in the religion.

This symbolism is also evident in Hinduism where the lotus is the foremost symbol of beauty, prosperity and fertility. According to Hinduism, within each human inhabiting the earth there is the spirit of the sacred Lotus. It represents eternity, purity and divinity and is widely used as a symbol of life, fertility, youth and describes feminine beauty. So a Lotus tattoo would be used as a symbol of life. The Lotus flower tattoo would be most suitable for those seeking an understanding of humanity and has probably been through the ups and downs of life. You may also use the Lotus tattoo to depict a struggle in life.