Prior to the genetic engineering that has given us something akin to the long fabled blue rose, the color purple did not exist naturally among roses in the strict sense that true purple is the midpoint between blue and red. However, in the early eighteen hundreds European hybriders were introduced to roses from China, and were able to produce roses that were a silvery mauve, which to the naked eye appears as a pastel purple.
Purveyors of the language of flowers varied in their interpretation of this rose. Some gave it meaning similar to that of the long sought after blue rose, so that it represented mystery and enchantment. Others wrote that it spoke of love at first sight, although that was a meaning common to so many other flowers as to be redundant. Among homosexuals, those indulging in the love that dared not speak its name, the lavender colored rose served as a statement of what could not otherwise be said; giving a nod to a same sex suitor, or letting a suitor of the opposite sex know not to further pursue a relationship. These days it is more openly celebrated in the wedding bouquets of many gay couples.