There is no rose tattoo without a thorn.

Rose tattoo designs in History

Romans, and Greeks before them, already identified roses with deities of beauty and love. Christianity also made it an important symbol of divine love.

Such beautiful flowers have inspired many famous painters of the last two centuries. This trend lasts today thanks to many tattoo artists that still consider roses to be some of the most beautiful tattoo subjects in nature.
Roses' natural beauty and their symbolic power make them today the most popular flower tattoo designs in the world.

Rose tattoos, so graceful and delicate, are usually considered as feminine tattoos. Nonetheless, many men proudly show off wonderful rose tattoo designs.
That's due to rose designs versatility: roses can be painted in many different colors and styles, can be easily combined with different designs like daggers and swords, skull tattoos or many others.

A rose with a dagger usually symbolizes a dangerous love or a painful one. The common connection between love and sorrow is usually expressed by a rose surrounded in barbed wire, or emphasizing thorns to the detriment of its petals.