How to Interpret Yellow Roses and When to Give Them to Someone

Co-authored by Dev Murphy

Last Updated: November 21, 2022 References

Yellow roses are a bright and sunny alternative to classic red roses—but what do they signify? While red roses evoke romantic feelings and white roses symbolize innocence, yellow roses are often associated with friendship and platonic love. If you want to know more about the meaning of these sunny blooms, read on: we’ve compiled everything you need to know about the meaning and symbolism of yellow roses.

Things You Should Know

Give yellow roses to someone for whom you feel friendship or platonic love, such as a family member or coworker.
Present yellow roses to someone to give them spiritual encouragement.
Subtly show someone you are only interested in them as friends by giving them yellow roses.
Be careful giving yellow roses to a romantic partner, as they may interpret the flowers as signs of waning affection, jealousy, or infidelity.

Section 1 of 4:

Meaning of Yellow Roses in the West

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Yellow roses usually signify friendship. Though there are many ways to interpret yellow roses, today, they are most commonly associated with friendship and platonic love. Presenting someone with yellow roses is a way to show you care about them.^{[1]
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- When it comes to flowers, quantity does not necessarily correlate with quality. In fact, giving a single rose indicates the giver feels an intense, special connection with the receiver. 2 roses represents the mutual care of the giver and receiver, and 13 roses symbolizes eternal friendship.^{[2]
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Yellow roses may also symbolize happiness. Because of their bright hue, yellow roses are often used to express joy. Their spicy-sweet fragrance is sure to fill anyone who inhales the scent of a yellow rose with peace and gladness.
- Their warm hue, evocative of sunshine, makes them the perfect flowers to give to someone in spring or summer months.
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Yellow roses represent spiritual encouragement. In Christianity, roses are symbols of God’s beauty and artistry, but yellow roses in particular represent spiritual enlightenment and wisdom.^{[3]
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- Give yellow roses to someone to encourage their religious or spiritual growth, and to remind them God is with them.
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Yellow roses may be used to convey a lack of romantic interest. If you want to politely let someone know you are not romantically interested in them but don’t want to say so directly, give them yellow roses. While red roses are used to convey passion, yellow roses are frequently used to connote platonic affection.^{[4]
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- What’s more, yellow roses may signify infidelity or jealousy. It was far more common in bygone eras to associate these golden-hued flowers with unfaithfulness and envy, but this interpretation is not unheard of today.^{[5]
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Section 2 of 4:

Meaning of Yellow Roses in Other Cultures

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In Japanese and Korean floriography, yellow roses symbolize jealousy. If your beloved gives you yellow roses, it could be a sign that they are not feeling very secure in their relationship with you.
- This interpretation is less common in the West, but there are still many in Western cultures who would hesitate before gifting their beloved a yellow rose.
- In Japan, yellow roses may also symbolize inner strength or courage.
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In some Eastern countries, yellow roses may signify infidelity. If you are presented with yellow roses, it might be a subtle confession that your partner has been unfaithful to you. Give someone yellow roses if you wish to apologize for betraying them, or if you want to carefully hint that you have found someone else.^{[6]
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- This interpretation may have evolved from a legend about the prophet Mohammed. According to the legend, when Mohammed feared his wife was unfaithful, the Archangel Gabriel told him to ask his wife to drop the roses she was holding into some water. If they changed color, she was unfaithful. Sure enough, when she dropped her red roses into the water, they turned yellow!^{[7]
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In Central and South America, yellow flowers symbolize death. Bouquets of yellow flowers, including roses, are commonly used to decorate the graves of loved ones who have died, and to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. It is believed that yellow is the only color that will help deceased loved ones find their graves.^{[8]
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- While yellow roses are frequently used to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, yellow and orange chrysanthemums are more common.

Section 3 of 4:

History of Yellow Roses

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Yellow roses have been a part of floriography for centuries. These rare blooms were first discovered growing in Southwest Asia and the Middle East in the 18th century, after which they were quickly adopted into floriography—that is, the use of flowers to express specific emotions and meanings.^{[9]
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- Floriography has been around for thousands of years in the East, but rose to popularity in the West in the Victorian era. Though there is some crossover in Eastern and Western floriography, there are many plants interpreted completely differently.
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Though yellow roses smell lovely today, they used to be odorless. Back in the 1700s, when yellow roses were first discovered, they didn't really smell much like anything! But through lots of experimentation with various cultivation methods, yellow roses eventually achieved the spicy-sweet fragrance they have today.^{[10]
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- Because of their scent, yellow rose petals make great potpourri. If you receive yellow roses, don't dispose of them when they wilt: let them dry, and then use their fragrant petals to fill your home with fragrance.

Section 4 of 4:

When to Give Someone Yellow Roses

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Give yellow roses to someone to celebrate their achievements. Yellow roses are a great way to show you are rooting someone on and are proud of their accomplishments.
- When your coworker gets the promotion they’ve been after, or your sister breaks a leg on Broadway, yellow roses are a great way to express your affection and congratulations.^{[11]
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Send yellow roses to a friend or family member for holidays. Yellow roses are perfect for birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day—any holiday where you might present a gift to a non-romantic loved one to show your care and affection.
- Yellow roses may signify platonic love for the giver, but they are the perfect choice to celebrate someone else’s romance: they make a great present for a bride and groom on their wedding day.^{[12]
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Send yellow roses to someone going through a difficult time. A bouquet of yellow roses will let them know you are thinking of them. While black roses also signify solidarity during a time of loss, the sunny hue of yellow roses encourages the receiver to hang on and see the bright side in a situation.
- Yellow roses are a great gift for someone who has recently undergone surgery, divorce, or another hardship.^{[13]
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Give yellow roses to a church friend to remind them God is with them. Present a bouquet of yellow roses to a friend to celebrate their baptism, or to a church member undergoing a crisis of faith.^{[14]
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- Leave yellow roses at the graveside of a loved one, in memory of them.
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Give someone yellow roses to end a relationship. If the spark is no longer there, switch from red roses to yellow to discreetly let someone know that your interest has waned, or that you have found somebody else.^{[15]
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- As beautiful as yellow roses are, take care giving them to your romantic partner, lest they interpret your gift as a bad sign. If you want to give yellow roses to your partner to express joy and friendship without signifying loss of love, infidelity, or jealousy, add red roses to the bouquet to symbolize your romantic feelings.^{[16]
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