FREE SHIPPING for Orders Over $125
Blooms By Heinau®home
  • Sign In or Create an Account
Search
0
  • Shop All
  • My Valentine
  • Roses That Last a Year
    • Ceramic Vase Collection
    • Glass Vase Collection
    • Alloy Vase Collection
    • Wood Container Collection
    • Fabric Collection
  • Hydrangea
  • Mixed Florals
  • Color Meanings
    • Blue Roses Meaning
    • White Roses Meaning
    • Purple Roses Meaning
    • Green Roses Meaning
    • Pink Roses Meaning
    • Red Roses Meaning
    • Yellow Roses Meaning
    • Orange Roses Meaning
  • Reviews
  • Flower Care
  • Contact
  • Cart 0

Rose Color Meanings

  • The Meaning of Blue Roses
  • The Meaning of White Roses
  • The Meaning of Purple Roses
  • The Meaning of Red Roses
  • The Meaning of Yellow Roses
  • The Meaning of Pink Roses
  • The Meaning of Green Roses
  • The Meaning of Orange Roses

Browse by Price

  • $0 - $74.99
  • $75 - $149.99
  • Over $150

  1. Home
  2. Color Meanings
  3. White Roses Meaning

White Roses: History, Meaning, and Symbolism

a bouquet of long lasting white roses with the sky in the background

These roses and other white flowers' delicate nature helps reinforce sympathy in a gentle way rather than making a powerful statement. As well, the absence of color invites introspection from studying the blossom itself more closely to appreciate its beauty. So, in this way, white roses can mean having a way to say the unsaid.


The Original Natural Roses That Lasts A Year or Longer Shop Roses That Last

Most commonly, white roses’ meaning is connected to purity and innocence, which has made the blooms a long-time favorite for those wishing to express the very truest of true love. For this reason, white roses as part of bridal rose bouquets are almost a given.

Heinau Blue Roses Floral Arrangement on Table Interior

In the Past White Flowers Symbolize More than Fidelity and Purity

White rose and white flowers have been a source of inspiration for plenty of myths and legends throughout history, and with the help of these myths and legends, we can understand how these beautiful flowers were perceived in those times.

One myth says that the first rose on Earth was white, and it miraculously transformed into other hues. The pure white rose was said to have been tainted by blood, making it red, and it was also made to blush from a kiss, making it pink.

Heinau White Roses Signature Roses Box (Light Grey)

Another myth came from the Ancient Greeks. It was said that roses were originally white until one day Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, pricked herself with a rose's thorns. The blood that dripped from her finger turned the white roses red.


In Victorian times, the meaning of white roses and white hydrangeas was slightly different. While white flower arrangements could mean innocence and honesty of intention, it was also considered that white flowers meant the loss of passion.

So, someone who received a bouquet of these roses after previously receiving a bouquet of red roses from the same suitor would have an unspoken statement that perhaps the love interest no longer wished to continue their courtship. Oddly enough, over time, this meaning of quieting of passion evolved to be part of accepted relationship dynamics, and white roses and white hydrangeas, in particular, became the symbolic gift for four-year anniversaries.

The Original Natural Roses That Lasts A Year or Longer Shop Our Roses Collection

The meaning of white roses in this application was most likely to convey that a love that started with fiery passion has now found its place in stillness and a different, more meaningful kind of love.


Heinau Opulent White Roses
Heinau Rose Box White Roses
Heinau Birch Bowl White Roses

During other times in history, white roses’ meaning had less to do with pure love and more to do with the purity of something new and “unstained” by the world. This made white rose flower arrangements a popular choice for welcoming a new baby, baptisms, and seasonal celebrations like May Day and other spring festivals.

Heinau Joli White Roses


Brides and White Flowers

Young ladies of marrying age in the middle ages would often wear wreaths or crowns of white flowers on their heads to symbolize their availability to find and marry a husband. In this situation, white roses’ meaning was to reinforce the young ladies' virginal quality and the purity of their character and actions. Eventually, many western cultures adopted this concept towards a bride’s attire, hence the white wedding dress tradition. Although brides these days now wear colors other than white, and it is acceptable for women to wear white even on a second or third marriage, the tradition began with white roses.

Blooms By Heinau®
Icon Facebook Icon Pinterest Icon Instagram Icon Blog RSS
Buy Roses That Last a Year

Mailing List

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Contact Info

  • [email protected]
  • Ask Us a Question
  • 9:30am to 5pm
    Monday – Friday

  • Affiliate Program

Links

  • About Us
  • FAQs
  • Blog
  • Shipping and Returns
  • Terms and Conditions
FAST customer services
Ask Us a Question
9:30am-5pm EST – Monday – Friday
email us your question
[email protected]
We will respond as soon as possible
Copyright Blooms by Heinau®. All Rights Reserved. Business Optimization Powered by Kompani Group.
TOP

Store Search