Purple carnations are popular flowers with a rich history and symbolism. While there are several positive meanings associated with these flowers, they also carry some negative connotations.
They are associated with creativity, calmness, compassion, admiration, open-mindedness, luck/good fortune, and royalty. Their negative symbolic meanings include unpredictability, capriciousness, instability, and uncertainty.
Let’s discuss all these symbolic meanings of purple carnation in detail to help you understand their spiritual significance.
Table of Contents
Purple Carnation: Symbolic Meanings
Here’s a list of the most popular symbolic meanings of purple carnations.
Creativity
Due to their majestic color, purple carnations symbolize creativity, originality, and self-expression [1]. They inspire people to express their deepest thoughts and emotions through visual art or other creative mediums.
It makes them ideal for people who want to explore their creative side or engage in artistic pursuits. If you’re one of those people, you can grow purple carnations in your gardens to stimulate your creativity.
In addition, these flowers can also promote harmony between your mind, body, and spirit. It can help you achieve a balanced body state, which is important for creativity.
Calmness
Purple carnations are associated with calmness, tranquility, and introspection. Their unique fragrance and beautiful color have a soothing effect on the mind. It’ll allow you to enter a state of deep thoughtfulness and reflection to calm yourself.
Additionally, their color is reminiscent of the deep blue sea, which can help you get into a state of introspection that’s perfect for meditation.
If you experience anxiety, you can place purple carnations in your room to promote a sense of calm and relaxation. Not only will they add more beauty and character to the space, but they’ll also help you fight anxiety and depression with their calming qualities.
Compassion
Purple carnations also symbolize compassion and sympathy. It means you can give these flowers to someone who is going through a difficult time to express your feelings.
If you see these flowers in your dream or waking life, it can be a spiritual sign that you need to be a more compassionate person. You can consider it a reminder that you need to give more time to people who love you.
Admiration
Purple carnations are often given as gifts on special occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries to show admiration, appreciation, and love. They’ve been known to bring joy and happiness into people’s lives when they receive it from someone they care about deeply.
Open-Mindedness
Purple carnations can help you become a more understanding person to promote open-mindedness [2]. It’s believed that the purple color has a positive effect on the mind and can help you see things from a range of different perspectives.
If you see these flowers in a dream, it can indicate that you’re a non-judgmental person. Alternatively, it can also suggest that you need to have a more tolerant and accepting attitude toward others.
Luck and Good Fortune
In the language of flowers, purple carnations represent luck and good fortune. You can give them to someone you know who is starting a new venture or embarking on a new journey to wish them success and prosperity.
Similarly, you can also give them to someone who has just received good news to congratulate them on their achievements.
Royalty
The purple color is associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Kings, queens, and nobility used to wear purple dresses due to the rarity and high cost of this dye [3].
Queen Elizabeth even had laws to prevent non-royals from wearing purple [4]. You can still find these flowers in royal gardens as they portray wealth.
Unpredictability
The purple carnation can also symbolize unpredictability or impulsiveness due to the unique and rare nature of its color.
This symbolic meaning can be both positive and negative. That’s because unpredictability can bring excitement and spontaneity to life, but it can also lead to uncertainty and instability at the same time.
Capriciousness
Capriciousness is a trait of being unpredictable, impulsive, and whimsical. It’s typically characterized by sudden changes in one’s mood or behavior.
The purple carnations can represent capriciousness because they’re associated with unpredictability. Their color is a mix of the calm stability of blue and the fiery energy of red.
Due to this unique characteristic, these flowers can represent a range of emotions, from calmness to passion and everything in between.
They can also symbolize the unpredictability of life and the ever-changing cycles of nature.
Instability
The purple color of carnations is also associated with instability and ambiguity [5]. It’s a combination of two colors (blue and red), which can lead to a mix of feelings and create an unstable emotional state.
It’s also important to note that the symbolic meaning of these flowers can vary across cultures and time periods. In ancient times, purple was considered a royal color and represented luxury and power, but in some cultures (for instance, Brazilian Catholics), it was associated with mourning and death. [6]
These contrasting meanings and perspectives of this color contribute to the symbolic significance of purple carnations as a representation of instability.
Uncertainty
Purple carnations can also represent uncertainty because they’re associated with mystery and the unknown [7]. If you see these flowers in a dream or real life, it can indicate that you’re facing an uncertain situation and you need to stay positive and patient.
Additionally, they can also symbolize uncertainty in your relationship. For example, if someone gives you these flowers, they might be unsure of their feelings or the direction of the relationship.
Final Words
Purple carnation holds a wide range of symbolic meanings, including both positive and negative.
The unique and contrasting perspectives associated with this flower make it a versatile and intriguing choice for various occasions.
We hope this guide has helped you understand the symbolic meaning of purple carnations and inspired you to use them in a more thoughtful and meaningful way to convey your emotions.
References:
- https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/design/hub/guides/meaning-of-purple-in-design
- https://symbolismandmetaphor.com/purple-carnation-flower-meaning/
- https://www.livescience.com/33324-purple-royal-color.html
- https://www.yotel.com/en/blog/why-is-purple-the-royal-colour-discovering-the-power-of-purple
- https://www.artsandcollections.com/a-history-of-the-colour-purple
- https://www.cravens-funerals.com/colours-of-mourning-around-the-world/
- https://www.gardenfine.com/carnation-color-meanings/