Rosettes can be used in many ways to signify different meanings, from awards to decorations. They can be personalised with event/show names or left plain, with the colour signifying the placing.
The most obvious use of rosettes is to signify the winner or placing (first, second or even tweflth etc) at an event. These events can range from horse shows, dog shows, cat shows etc to baking competitions, school sports days and football matches. Infact, rosettes can be awarded for anything!
How exciting to win and be awarded with a brightly coloured token to take home and keep! Many people treasure their winning rosettes for years to come and display them on a bedroom wall, display cabinet etc.
At most events, the standard placing colours used are as follows:
Red = First place
Blue = Second place
Yellow = Third place
Green = Fourth place
Pink = Fifth place
Purple = Sixth place
This helps everyone know the placing, even if the rosette centres are unprinted. They can range from all one shade to a mixture of colours. A best in show, would normally be red, white and blue, with reserve best in show being blue and white.
Another main use for rosettes is by political parties to denote their political allegiance. A candidate is easily recognisable by the colour of his rosettes, even though his name or face is unknown. We all know that blue = Conservatives, red = Labour and yellow = Liberal Democrats etc, but the minor parties and independents have a rainbow of colours for their rosettes. Will we eventually run out of colours?
Rosettes can be made in a variety of sizes, normally denoted by the number of ribbon tiers. Usually the higher placing rosettes will have more ribbon tiers than the lesser placing.
Rosettes can also be used to commemorate a special event, e.g. a birthday, anniversary or wedding. Rosettes are ideal for wearing as name badges or place names. These also provide a lovely keepsake memento of the special day.
Rosettes are also used to show a supporters dedication and passion for their club and are proudly worn on match days to rally their team. Football rosettes were very popular in the past, however are mainly only seen at big events and not every weekend match.
This is only a brief insight into the use of rosettes. I’m sure there are many more uses to be found, can you think of any?
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