The language of flowers in statecraft

The state flower of New York is the rose, which also happens to be our national flower. It signifies love and beauty, as well as war and politics.

I’m researching and sketching them for a project in which they may play a large role— a wallpaper design to be precise. The tricky thing about roses, from a design point of view, is their tendency to look rather like blobs of petals rather than having a distinct silhouette.

Different colors have their own individual meanings assigned to them as well. The ‘language of flowers’ was very popular in Victorian times, and extended well beyond what we generally see in florists shops today.

For example, red roses signify passionate love; white ones represent innocence and purity; pink is for femininity, sweetness, or refinement; and the blue rose speaks of mystery, or the impossible, the unattainable. All very fascinating, but I may not go down that rabbit hole as regards the design; especially as the floral elements will not be the prominent aspect; more of a backdrop pattern.