Spring has officially started! For many people the sign for spring-cleaning, to dream of summer destinations or to go shopping and look for a completely new outfit.

Also in the tattoo world people notice the same trend every spring: many people start looking for a tattoo-design with flowers. These tattoos become more and more popular, not in the least through the different messages that you can send with it, depending on the flower you choose. That they are also colorful and look elegant is obviously a bonus. We mainly see the flower tattoos with women, but one can also find some extremely beautiful designs for men.

Here we put the most popular flower tattoos and their meaning in a row.

The rose

The rose has been the most popular flower for tattoos for a very long time. For women and men. It became popular in America during the 30ties and 40ties. Sailors wore them as a kind of badge of honor or as a symbol of their girlfriend, wife or mother.

Typically, the rose represents love, passion and beauty. But depending on the color of the rose, you can express something different with it:

Red: genuine love and passion

Pink: elegance and gentleness

White: innocence, youthfulness and purity

Coral: desire

Orange-pink: enthusiasm, excitement and fascination

Purple-pink: enchantment and love at first sight

Peach-pink: modesty and friendship

Blue-pink: fascination

Yellow-pink: love for family, devotion and joy

Black-pink: death and darkness

Also, the shape of the rose is important. Often the tattoo consists solely of the flower itself, but if you, for example, add the stem and thorns, it may just indicate a contrast, the dark side of love: loss and rejection.

The lotus

The lotus is also much in demand as a tattoo. This flower has even more meanings than the rose. The meaning varies depending on the culture or the religion (Asian, Hindu or Buddhist interpretation), the color and the shape of the lotus tattoo.

For many people, from Asia or elsewhere, the lotus symbolizes a resurrection from a difficult situation or period in their lives. This is because the lotus grows out of the mud: from something dirty and ugly at first sight, grows a very beautiful and colorful flower. For this reason, the lotus is also a symbol of inner beauty and strength.

In Hinduism the lotus plays, especially the sacred lotus, an important role. The lotus was given the name Padma and is connected to several of their gods like Vishnu and Brahma. The lotus means divine beauty and purity to them. The opening of the flower then refers back to the opening of the soul and spiritual awakening.

For Buddhists, the lotus flower represents purity of body, mind and soul. Often, the lotus is depicted with eight petals, symbolizing the 'eight-fold path', an important dogma of this religion.

In the Buddhist teachings their color also is of interest:

White: the white lotus stands for enlightenment (mental or spiritual), purity and perfection.

Blue: the blue lotus represents wisdom, knowledge and intelligence, and symbolizes the victory of the mind over the body and physical compulsions.

Pink: the pink lotus represents Buddha himself.

Red: the red lotus signifies love, passion and compassion. Often it is represented with open petals to show the perfect shape of the heart.

We can therefore conclude that the meaning of the lotus is very complex. Therefore, you would be wise and investigate in advance what the chosen design really means. You can get the best advice from a tattoo artist with this knowledge.

The orchid

The orchid has also different meanings in different cultures in which it appears. In Japan, the orchid was originally a symbol for the courage of the warriors. In the Aztec culture the flower stood for strength and power. In China it represents prosperity, fertility and refinement.

If you choose this tattoo – and you have quite some choice, there are more than 25.000 different species – definitely check thoroughly from which region the orchid that you choose is from. In this way, you can be sure that the meaning corresponds to what you want to convey to the outside world.

The lily

The meaning of lilies is usually linked to the 'Madonna lily', a flower that grew according to the ancient Greeks from the milk of Hera, queen of the gods. The Greeks infer that the flower was the symbol of the ‘female divine’. Today, these characteristics are attributed to the flower: validity, perfection, purity, compassion, understanding and feelings of mourning.

Due to the many meanings often other symbols are added to a lily tattoo to emphasize the correct meaning.

Inspired?

Of course there are plenty of other flowers that can inspire you for a tattoo. Check out this website for a full list of flowers and their meanings.

The flower trend has not escaped TattooForAWeek. There are quite a few temporary flower tattoos in the shop. Have a look here and be part of the flower trend!