Have you ever seen blue roses? You’re most likely familiar with red, white, and pink roses. These roses are popular and grow naturally, but blue roses are rare and artificially produced. Little wonder, blue roses are prized and sought after today.

There are several meanings and symbols. We will give a quick general overview and then dive deeper into each, including what they mean spiritually, in art, and what their different numbers mean.

Quick Overview: Blue Rose Meaning – Symbolism & Interpretations

Blue roses, often seen as mysterious and unattainable, captivate with their unique blue-to-violet hues, forming a distinct identity among typical red, white, or yellow roses. They symbolize enigmatic sentiments, unrequited love, and genuine admiration, holding a special place in the language of flowers due to their alluring and rare appearance.

Blue Rose: Real or Fake?

Blue rose is a genetically modified rose plant belonging to the Rosaceae family¹, containing blue to violet pigment. Unlike other rose plants that exist naturally, a blue rose is artificially produced through hybridization or dyeing.

While rose plants are indigenous to Asia, Europe and America, blue roses are products of genetic modification. Generally, roses are coveted for their beautiful flowers, making them suitable for houseplants and floral gifts.

They’re also a lovely sight to behold with the distinct shape of their petals, long stems, and striking leaves. Moreover, they have a fragrant smell that’s quite refreshing, enlivening your mood. Little wonder roses are used in various products like cleaning supplies, perfumes, and cosmetics.

The Origin of Blue Roses

Blue roses do not exist naturally; they’re genetically engineered species of rose plants created by scientists. They were first discovered in the 12th century, but these roses were formed by placing blue dye in the bark of rose flowers.

Florigene², an Australian firm financially backed by Suntory, a Japanese beverage company, started blue rose research in 1990. They genetically engineered a white rose (in 2004) containing the blue pigment delphinidin.

Delphinidin is a pigment in many fruits and flowers, including grapes, cherries, and blueberries. This compound is responsible for the dark blue, purple, or black color.

Blue Rose Symbolism

While roses are primarily associated with love and emotion, the blue rose has different meanings. Like other species of flowers, different blue rose colors symbolize different meanings.

Depending on the shade of blue, the flowers depict the following:

The dark blue rose is associated with thoughts and dreams. It also reflects imagination and mystery.

A light blue rose portrays feelings and sensitivity. While this doesn’t convey romantic feelings, it expresses hope and peace.

Baby blue rose signifies calmness, trustworthiness, peace, and reliability. Although this shade is rare, it’s endearing and suitable for baby gender reveal parties and baby showers. In addition, baby blue roses are a thoughtful gift for a new parent.

Aqua blue rose denotes elegance and luxury. This flower also epitomizes prosperity, serenity, and wisdom.

Blue Rose & Culture

Across cultures, many people associate blue roses with tranquility and peace. This is because blue is known to calm anxiety and spread feelings of relaxation when stressed.

The blue rose signifies wealth and royalty in some cultures because it’s a rare color. Also, it undergoes artificial procedures, making it quite expensive, and it’s believed that only the wealthy and royals can afford it.

Here’s the symbolism of the blue rose in different cultures and countries.

In the west, presenting a blue rose to someone is a show of love.

In Chinese culture, the blue rose signifies good fortune and protection.

The Europeans believe blue roses showcase faithfulness and endless love for one another.

What Does Blue Rose Signify?

Mystery and Secrecy

Because blue rose doesn’t exist naturally, are developed in the lab, and there’s little information about their creation, they have an air of mystery.

Rare and Unattainable

Due to its rare nature, significance in the flower world, and genetic makeup, blue roses are quite expensive and almost inaccessible. The rationale is that the blue rose does not exist naturally but undergoes genetic modification, which is expensive.

Romantic and Unique

Blue roses evoke romantic feelings and depict unrequited love and love at first sight. Gifting your partner a blue rose is a unique way of expressing your feelings.

New Beginnings

As the newest member of the rose species, the blue rose represents new beginnings. This characteristic makes the flower a suitable gift for someone who’s just started a new job or experienced a new life change.

Blue Rose Spiritual Meaning

Blue roses hold profound spiritual significance and symbolize the unattainable, infinite spiritual journey. They represent the pursuit of truth, knowledge, and spiritual growth, bridging the gap between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Blue roses also embody divine love, spiritual enlightenment, and attaining spiritual goals.

The spiritual meaning of blue roses is multi-layered and unique to each individual’s beliefs and experiences. Whether gifted or received, blue roses are a meaningful reminder of the beauty and mystery of the spiritual world.

As earlier stated, the blue rose has different meanings, with spiritual connotations and implications. Spiritually, flowers symbolize tenderness, so a person is compassionate if they are compared to a flower.

In addition, flowers represent femininity, and the blue rose signifies the birth of a female child. A pregnant woman who dreams about receiving a blue flower in their dream will most likely give birth to a baby girl.

Also, the blue rose denotes one’s ability to make a change or impact the world. Furthermore, blue rose focuses more on building healthy relationships.

Let’s consider other spiritual meanings of blue roses.

Embodies Abundance

Generally, blue represents the color of nature, including the sky and oceans, which are vast and countless. This connotes abundance. Are you in need or lacking something? When you dream about a blue rose, it indicates a season of abundance in resources and blessings.

Encourages Self-acceptance

Blue roses are distinct from other flowers. Seeing one in your dream means you’re unique and shouldn’t change for anyone. As a result, you should learn to accept yourself, embracing your flaws and quirkiness.

Blue Rose Embodies Motherly Love and Care

A light blue rose represents a mother’s heart towards her child and conveys a tender-hearted mother who cares so much for her child. As a parent, seeing a blue rose in your dream may indicate that you’re not showing enough care to your kids.

Conveys Peace

Blue rose can communicate peace if facing challenges, suffering setbacks, or in a dilemma. Its fragrance stimulates meditation, creating a relaxing atmosphere that diffuses worries and fears.

Accept Your Weaknesses

Seeing a blue rose in your dream may suggest accepting your weaknesses and understanding that your shortcomings make you who you are.

Suggests Childbearing

A Blue rose is also indicative of childbearing, and seeing a blue rose on a field means you’ll be giving birth to a child. And if you’ve been childless for years, dreaming about blue roses predicts you will have a child soon.

On the other hand, if you’re pregnant, a dark blue rose symbolizes conceiving a female child. This symbolism is helpful, especially if you’re confused about the gender of the child you’re expecting.

Represents Good Health

Dreaming about blossoming blue roses on a field can signify good health. Are you ill? Keeping a blue rose around or close to you stimulates recovery, increasing your chances of getting well.

Portrays Determination

Generally, tender plants are easily tossed around by the wind. Seeing a blue rose in your dream suggests being staunch, determined, and firm about your decisions.

Indicates Bad Luck

Decayed, trampled, or dried blue rose signifies bad luck, which is a negative sign. Likewise, seeing a decaying or wilted blue rose in your dream means something sinister will happen; therefore, you should try to avert it.

Blue Roses Meaning in China

There are many myths and interesting tales about blue roses. One of these is the Chinese folklore that centers around an emperor seeking to give his daughter out for marriage. In Chinese culture, blue roses reflect honesty and achieving the unattainable.

Some centuries ago, an emperor who wanted to marry his daughter off placed a condition that anyone who brought a blue rose would be eligible to marry her. At that time, roses grew widely in China with different hues like yellow, pink, red, white, and orange, but no one had ever encountered a blue rose.

Many men wanted to marry the emperor’s daughter but struggled to find a blue rose because it did not exist naturally. So some determined men devised cunny means to win the conquest. Notably, a wealthy art merchant asked an experienced painter to paint the petals of a rose in the finest shades of blue. The paint dripped off the princess’ hands as the merchant presented the rose to her.

Another wealthy silk merchant who couldn’t get a blue rose asked his most proficient tailor to make a rose from the finest blue silk. Unfortunately, the emperor’s daughter found him out. The third suitor, a prince, connived with magicians to create an illusion of a blue rose in a box. As the emperor’s daughter stretched her hands to touch the blue rose, she found it a hoax.

Another suitor, exceedingly wealthy with several jewel mines and few gardens, had his royal artisan create a beautiful rose from sapphire. Unfortunately, when he presented the rose to the princess, she could tell it wasn’t a blue rose.

Now about this time, the princess had fallen in love with the gardener’s son, who was determined to win her hand in marriage. The young man presented a white rose to the princess. Upon examining the white rose, she declared it was a blue rose, and the two lived happily ever after. Besides this Chinese legend, other tales mention blue roses, including Sadko and Arabian Nights.

Blue Rose Meaning in General

While not naturally occurring due to genetic limitations, a blue rose symbolizes mystery and the unattainable. This unique flower, showcasing blue-to-violet hues, stands apart from the common red, white, or yellow roses. As a result, blue roses are often used to represent enigmatic or elusive sentiments, adding intrigue to their captivating appearance.

The blue rose is often associated with the concept of the unattainable or the impossible, representing a symbol of desire and a sense of mystery. They can also represent the idea of achieving the impossible or overcoming obstacles in one’s life.

They have been used to express deep love and longing, making them popular for romantic occasions such as weddings and anniversaries. Additionally, they can convey a sense of uniqueness and complexity, making them a fitting gift for someone special.

Blue roses have a special meaning and symbolism that can speak to many emotions and concepts. Whether you are drawn to their rarity and beauty or appreciate their symbolic value, blue roses are fascinating flowers that continue to inspire and captivate people’s imaginations.

Meaning of Blue Roses in Art & Literature

Blue roses portray arts and literature through plays, music, and poems. For example, The Glass Menagerie, a Tennessee Williams play, featured a tricky and strange character nicknamed “Blue Roses.”

In George R.R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen presented blue roses to Lady Lyanna Stark as a loyalty gift. Twin Peaks, an American mystery drama, also featured blue roses, which portray mysteries involving the supernatural.

Joni Mitchell, Pam Tillis, and Jimmy Nail sang about blue roses. While Jimmy Nail’s song, blue roses, reiterates flowers blooming in the snow before letting his love go, Joni Mitchell emphasizes the connection between the flowers and mysterious elements.

In addition, artists from the impressionist era, VanGogh, and Monet utilized deeper shades of blue in their arts since they represent mystery and imagination, inspiring qualities for poets and painters.

Other Blue Rose Meanings

Blue roses may portray a personality that isn’t easily understood. Giving a blue rose to a person conveys that you appreciate them despite their complexities.

Since the blue rose isn’t a product of nature but genetic engineering, it can portray manipulation. Giving a blue rose to someone you consider manipulative can encourage conflict.

A blue rose is an ideal gift for special occasions like birthdays and events that mark new beginnings. Moreover, it can be a suitable gift for someone you wish to date.

What Does the Number of Blue Roses in a Bouquet Mean?

Besides the specific rose color, the number of roses expresses your innermost thoughts and reveals hidden meanings. Here’s what each number of roses means.

One rose

You should give a single rose to a crush or someone you’re considering dating because it depicts love at first sight.

Two roses

This expresses deep love for someone.

Three roses

Three roses indicate “I love you,” with each rose representing each one of the three words.

Four roses

This expresses that “nothing will come between us.”

Five roses

Five roses reveal how special someone is to you. These roses are for loved ones and non-romantic friends you’re concerned about.

Six roses

These roses tell the receiver, “I want to be yours.” If you’re currently dating and wish to take your relationship to the next level, presenting six blue roses is a subtle way to express your feelings.

Seven roses

Seven roses mostly revolve around infatuation. Furthermore, seven roses say, “we complete each other.”

Eight roses

Eight roses are suitable for loved ones going through difficult times and serve as a source of encouragement and support.

Nine roses

These flowers depict eternal love, conveying to your partner that you want to spend the rest of your life with them.

Ten roses

A simple yet powerful way to express that someone is perfect for you.

Eleven roses

11 roses symbolize that someone is treasured.

Twelve roses

A dozen roses is a simple way to ask a person to be yours.

Thirteen roses

These roses exemplify eternal friendship and secret admiration for someone.

Fourteen roses

This is the number of roses to present to someone who has just achieved a milestone.

Fifteen roses

Offering fifteen roses to someone you’ve offended is an ideal way to apologize.

Twenty roses

This illustrates sincerity and loyalty to one another.

Thirty roses

This symbolizes faithfulness and commitment.

Forty roses

Forty roses express genuine love for someone.

Fifty roses

Fifty roses imply unconditional love.

Sixty-six roses

This says, “nothing is going to change my love for you.”

Seventy-seven roses

You give these roses to someone you consider your soulmate.

Eighty-eight roses

If you owe someone an apology, gifting the person 88 roses expresses how deeply sorry you are.

Ninety-nine roses

This denotes that your love for someone is everlasting.

One hundred roses

Presenting 100 roses to a person shows how committed you are to them.

Meaning When Combined With Other Rose Colors

Blue rose signifies different meanings when combined with other colors.

Combining red rose and blue rose means you have a secret admirer.
Combining white rose and blue rose depicts serenity and beauty.
A combination of yellow and blue roses indicates a platonic relationship between people.
Combining pink rose and blue rose shows that you admire someone so much.

Final Thoughts

There you go! This comprehensive guide features all you need to know about blue roses’ various meanings, history, and significance. The flower symbolizes several attributes, from beauty to calmness, abundance, and motherly love, depending on the circumstances.

Are you fascinated by the history and qualities of blue roses? These flowers make a great addition to homes and serve as a suitable gift for loved ones. Consider using them where appropriate.

References + Resources

1.) Rosaceae: The rose family – PDF

2.) Florigene – Link

3.) Cloning and Expression of a Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase to Generate Blue Rose – Link