America 250: Celebrating the rose, the US national flower
Jul 6, 2026, 12:34 PM
Roses await to be passed out to every female student and faculty member at Oquirrh Hills Middle School in Riverton on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Isaac Hale, Deseret News)
(Isaac Hale, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — This year, America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So, let’s talk about our national flower: the rose.
In 1986, President Reagan ratified the rose as our national floral emblem calling it a “symbol of life and love and devotion, of beauty and eternity. For the love of man and woman, for the love of mankind and God, for the love of country, Americans who would speak the language of the heart do so with a rose.”
Video: America’s National Flower: The Rose
On roses, President Reagan remarked in his proclamation:
“Our first President, George Washington, bred roses, and a variety he named after his mother is still grown today… We grow roses in all our fifty States. We find roses throughout our art, music, and literature. We decorate our celebrations and parades with roses. Most of all, we present roses to those we love, and we lavish them on our altars, our civil shrines, and the final resting places of our honored dead. The American people have long held a special place in their hearts for roses. Let us continue to cherish them, to honor the love and devotion they represent, and to bestow them on all we love just as God has bestowed them on us.”
Roses have been cultivated and used in many different capacities for over 5,000 years. Fossil studies reveal that the rose has existed in America for millennia. Several states have also adopted different rose species as their state flower, including New York, Oklahoma, Iowa, and North Dakota.
Right here in Utah, varieties like hybrid teas and shrub roses thrive, especially when you give them full sun, deep watering, and a lot of love.
Just like the American people, the rose is beautiful and tough, it pushes through thorns, weathers every season, and keeps on blooming.
This Fourth of July, we remember those who shaped and continue to shape this nation. Join KSL in celebrating America 250.
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