Permanent rose is the lightfast alternative to opera rose and lake reds — a quinacridone-based pink-red that maintains its colour over time. Winsor & Newton introduced it as a replacement for fugitive rose madder.

Permanent rose is tender and vulnerable — the pink at the edge of red, suggesting flesh, petals, and dawn. Unlike scarlet's aggression, permanent rose is intimate. It is the colour of things that open.

The shift from fugitive rose lake to permanent quinacridone rose in the 20th century was one of the most significant improvements in artist colour. Many 19th-century paintings now appear different from their original state because of faded lake reds.