Last updated on May 22nd, 2023 at 03:37 pm

La Dispute flower is a flower design popularized by the Post-Hardcore American band La Dispute. It is not a particular species of flower. However, you can take any flower and make it look like a La Dispute flower. This might be done by photographing a particular flower from the top. Apart from that, you can sketch one. 

La Dispute flower is considered powerful imagery in the music scene because of the band. Therefore, it is also very popular among tattoo artists and their enthusiasts. As with any powerful symbol, it keeps on taking and shedding meaning. It might mean different things to different people. Meaning keeps evolving for abstract symbols. However, most meanings associated with a La Dispute flower are consistent among the fans. The La Dispute flower meaning in this sense can vary a lot.

Adam Vass made the design of the La Dispute flower. He is the bass guitarist of the band. According to one interview, he began sketching for a design whimsically, as most creative artists do. The design was not preplanned, and he still needed to learn what the final design would look like. 

He first sketched parts of a rose from a vertical perspective. He also incorporated the geometry of the Michigan state flower apple blossom from a vertical perspective. He further added that he added parts from a third flower, which had a lot of petals. He emphasized that the kind of flowers he picked was not important to him, but the final design was.

Perhaps, that’s why most of the band’s hardcore fans do not focus on the kind of flowers incorporated into the design. They focus on the symbolic meanings associated with the design and treat it as abstract. Moreover, they also associate the design with themes that La Dispute’s songs often dabble in. Many were under the impression that the design was made from a lotus. But Vass clarified that he does not consider the La Dispute flower a lotus. This misconception may have stemmed from the fact that this design is very popular among tattoo artists. Thus, they often display it to their customers, who do not know where it emerged.

What does the La Dispute flower symbolize?

As mentioned by Vass himself, his focus was on the geometry of the design. Thus, the flower can be interpreted to symbolize perfect geometry and symmetry. Most artists try to perfect their art as well as they can—it becomes their life. 

Perfect symmetry and geometry have stood for perfection throughout history. The most prominent example is ‘The Vitruvian Man’, made by Leonardo Da Vinci in the 15th century. Even people with OCD try to keep everything nicely symmetrical as they obsess over perfection. So, the surface meaning associated with the La Dispute flower is clear.

Apart from that, the La Dispute flower can also stand for the ideals and values of the band itself. It can also stand for the thematic concepts they deal with in their songs. Dryer writes most songs for the band and is often inspired by prose. This is odd, as most musicians prefer poetry over prose. Nevertheless, his inspirations include Kurt Vonnegut and Vladimir Nabokov. 

Thus, the La Dispute flower means social equality, pacifism, and common decency. However, these themes are conveyed through tunes that are quite hardcore and sound violent. The messages of peace and pacifism are conveyed through contradictions, as often life is.

The roots of the band lay in loss and grief. Many of their albums deal in symbolism related to the loss of something, grief, and physical space. The band admitted that they were too analytic and literal in the beginning. However, they got a break from the literal and delved into the abstract. The La Dispute flower is the perfect symbol for that. 

Another thing to note here is the band’s connection to the roadside. They dive deep into roadside accidents and tragedy in many of their tracks and their fourth album Panorama. In America, people often leave flowers whenever someone dies on the road. The flowers are kept in that very place. The La Dispute flower fits this grim theme perfectly. In this context, the meaning of the La Dispute flower is a bit objective.

Meaning of the La Dispute flower colors

Color varies

As it’s quite a famous tattoo design, it also carries a lot of personal meanings. Most people get tattoos to embed a particular meaning, feeling, or emotion into them so they do not forget about it. Otherwise, they get a tattoo to remember an incident, instance, or someone. Thus, the La Dispute flower can symbolize a million different things.

The symbolization of the La Dispute flowers can also change with color. If it is red, it may mean a broken heart. If it is black, then it can mean the death of a loved one. The band itself deals with the theme of death and loss quite often. It’s hard to pinpoint a particular meaning for a symbol that has evolved so much over time and is also partly an abstraction.

All in all, it’s sufficient to say that you can go down two roads while finding meaning in the La Dispute flower. You can associate its symbolization and meaning in the context of the La Dispute band. Or, you can find your meaning in the La Dispute flower itself without considering the band and the logo’s creator altogether. In its truest sense, the meaning of the La Dispute flower meaning will vary from color to color.

Interesting facts about the La Dispute flowers

  • La Dispute flower seems very symmetrical and perfectly geometrical. However, it has no basis in reality. It is based on several flowers. In a sense, it is an abstraction of a flower or, perhaps, many flowers.
  • Many tattoo artists love the La Dispute flower because it allows them to experiment and create something new. 
  • The La Dispute is underrated and not so commercial. So, in the lingo of the music industry, they are not considered “sell-outs”. That gives the band logo a whole different and very political meaning. Many fans don’t like to give the La Dispute flower a political tone.
  • Those who get La Dispute flower as a tattoo are not necessarily fans of the band. The bright side is that this symbol creates more personal meanings for these people. For a symbol to become more powerful and dominant, that is very important. 
  • Another interesting thing to note is the design’s popularity among tattoo artists and enthusiasts. The La Dispute flower is partly popular due to its aesthetics and not its association with a band. That means Vass’s sketch has a lot of artistic value. Here, the La Dispute flower meaning carries a lot of potential due to its artistic roots.
  • For many people who know the band but do not associate with their songs, the La Dispute flower is simply about creativity. The La Dispute flower is about creative expression. It’s a symbol used by a band of musicians, and anyone who loves art would probably like the La Dispute flower. 
  • Moreover, if one knows how the La Dispute flower was created, one may associate it with creative freedom. Creative freedom comes along with the ability to create meaning.

Best time to gift La Dispute flowers

It’s impossible to give someone a La Dispute flower as it does not exist. However, you can make your own by combining a rose, an apple blossom, and another flower with many petals. In other words, you will have to create an artificial La Dispute flower or arrange flowers to resemble a La Dispute flower. Apart from that, you can also sketch one and give the sketch to someone.

Any representation of a flower is the perfect gift for any ardent fan of the La Dispute band. The representation can be digital or physical, but you should put some effort into making it.

Conclusion

As mentioned, the La Dispute Flower is very popular among tattoo artists, painters, sketch artists, etc. Thus, there is no one La Dispute flower that exists. Many variations of the La Dispute flower are available online and in the real world. Those variations come with their meanings and symbolism. 

To understand the meaning of the flower by associating it with Adam Vass and the band, you should go through their discography. That way, the La Dispute flower meaning can be properly grasped by anyone willing to learn more about it.

If you want to know and learn more about flowers, we at PansyMaiden can help you. Check out our fun, easy-to-read, and informative flower-related content that you will surely enjoy!