Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. The rose was sacred to a number of goddesses, and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. Roses are so important that the word means pink or red in a variety of languages (such as Romance languages and Greek).

A red rose (often held in a hand) is also a symbol of socialism or social democracy.

Roses come in a variety of colors, each with a different symbolic meaning:

Red: love 

Pink: grace 

Dark Pink: gratitude 

Light Pink: admiration, sympathy 

White: innocence, secrecy (see also: White Rose) 

Yellow: dying love 

Orange: passion 

Burgundy: beauty 

Blue: mystery (created by dyeing white roses; after 15 years of research genetically modified blue roses were created by Japanese company Florigene in 2004) 

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Rose