Flower tattoos make for some of the most versatile tattoos for men and women. Flower tattoo designs can be large, small, black, grey, white, colorful, or anything in between. Similarly, floral tattoos can carry a very personal and meaningful message, or can simply exist because you enjoy their beauty. Because flower tattoo ideas can have different meanings, it’s important to consider the type of flower and color you want. Some flowers symbolize strength while other types represent new beginnings, family, love, hope, friendship, and purity.
Whether you want a cute shoulder, arm, chest, back, leg, wrist, thigh or hand tattoo, here are the best flower tattoos as well as a complete list of flower tattoo meanings. From the carnation to the rose, lotus, and hibiscus flower, these are the most popular flower tattoos for women.
Flower Tattoo Meanings
Each flower and color represents something different. Just changing the type of flower or color scheme of your tattoo can change the meaning of it. And with so many different types of flower tattoos to pick from, it can be a challenge choosing just one design. To inspire you with ideas, let’s discuss the different flower tattoo meanings.
Rose
The rose tattoo generally symbolizes love, passion, hope, new beginnings, and friendship. However, different kinds of rose tattoo designs can represent other things depending on the color and styling. For example, a rose flower with the stem and thorns can mean loss and strength. Furthermore, a red rose can mean love, a yellow rose can represent friendship and happiness, a pink rose for femininity, and a black rose may symbolize death and destruction.
Among the most popular designs is the rose tattoo with a name inscribed. The name can be a way to celebrate a relationship or a family name to show love for your heritage. Furthermore, many women combine the rose with another flower, such as a lily, sunflower, or carnation to create a cute bouquet.
Lotus
The lotus flower is a favorite because it represents the ability to grow and blossom despite struggles. The meaning of the lotus flower tattoo is to show a transformation from hardship or loss to beauty, strength, and growth. A simple yet beautiful flower tattoo can share such a powerful message to the rest of the world.
Sunflower
The big yellow bloom associated with a sunflower represents loyalty, long life, and adoration – much like the sun itself. Sunflower tattoos are cute, vibrant and energetic, offering the gift of life and growth.
Hibiscus
The hibiscus flower tattoo symbolizes perfection, power, royalty, respect, and beauty. However, in Japanese, the name of the hibiscus flower actually translates into the word “gentle”. For this reason, a hibiscus tattoo design can have a variety of meanings depending on the context and surrounding artwork.
Orchid
The pretty orchid comes in dozens of different types and colors, and orchid tattoo meanings can vary depending on your preferred design. Some orchid tattoos represent power and strength while other designs symbolize a warrior’s courage. Chinese orchid flower tattoos are the ultimate symbols of prosperity and fertility.
Chrysanthemum
The chrysanthemum tattoo can represent happiness and longevity, but in some cases, it may also represent deity and perfection. A Japanese chrysanthemum flower tattoo can mean royalty, which can be used to symbolize a powerful message that women should be respected and loved.
Carnation
Carnations are some of the most popular flowers in the West, and what a carnation flower means depends on its color. Generally, the carnation tattoo typically symbolizes romance, love, and admiration. Whether you want a red, pink, white, yellow or purple carnation tattoo, you can’t go wrong with a cute design of this flower.
As mentioned, you can always combine a carnation tattoo design with a red rose and flowers of different colors to ink more than one meaning.
Iris
The iris represents faith, wisdom, hope, purity and courage in most parts of the world, but this can vary depending on your culture and beliefs. For some, the purple or dark blue iris is a symbol of royalty. Most women choose a small iris flower tattoo on their forearm, thigh or upper back.
Daffodil
The cheery yellow daffodil represents new beginnings. It’s one of the first flowers to crop up in late winter and early spring, and many people look forward to the daffodil’s arrival to signify the coming end to the cold weather. A daffodil flower tattoo is popular because the designs are usually vivid and uplifting, much like its meaning. Get a small daffodil tattoo on your wrist or hip as a constant reminder that good things are coming.
Cherry Blossom
Cherry blossom tattoos are heavily associated with Japanese tradition. Cherry blossoms are blown from their branches in even the slightest wind, making them incredibly delicate. For some, cherry blossom flower tattoos represent empathy; for others, they serve as a reminder that beauty and life are fleeting. Ultimately, the cherry blossom tattoo symbolizes life, death and rebirth, much like the phoenix.
Peony
The peony is common in Japanese flower tattoos, and this popularity has spread into the Western world. The meaning of the peony tattoo starts with wealth, prosperity, wealth, elegance, and beauty. Although traditional peony tattoos are often colored red, the flower and designs can be styled in a range of wild colors, including white, blue, pink, purple, and yellow.
Flower Color Meanings
While each of these flower tattoos carries its own inherent meaning, color also plays a crucial role. With so many different flower color meanings, it’s important to choose the right color that best represents the meaning you want to portray.
However, personalities are multi-dimensional, so colorful flower tattoo designs can symbolize many different attributes or life experiences. On the flip side, if you pick a black and grey or black and white flower tattoo, then the meaning of the flower itself will symbolize your message.
If you get a colored flower tattoo, be sure to consider the color meanings below.
- Red – Red is commonly used to signify passion, love, desire, and lust – especially for a partner.
- Blue – Blue is the color of calm tranquility and peace. Though any flower can be colored blue, the lotus is by far the most common blue flower tattoo.
- Pink – Pink symbolizes femininity and pink flower tattoos generally represent gentle, graceful, and elegant women.
- White – White is the ultimate reflection of purity, innocence, and perfection.
- Yellow – Yellow is the color of happiness, trust, respect and compassion, and when it comes to flowers, the ultimate expression of friendship.
- Purple – Purple has been the color of royalty for centuries. Purple flower tattoo designs can also show admiration, trust, grace, elegance, creativity and even charm.
- Orange – Orange is a refreshing color that can be used to symbolize excitement, happiness, joy, and warmth.
- Green – Green flower tattoos can add a meaning of health, prosperity, balance, resilience, and tranquility with nature.
- Black – Although black flowers are almost always representative of death, grief and evil, many women love black and white flower tattoos for their simple designs.
Best Flower Tattoo Designs
Here are the best flower tattoos to inspire you. Check out our collection of cute and beautiful flower tattoo designs to envision what your artwork will look like and give you ideas on the types of flowers you may want to get inked.
