A rose chart (also called Nightingale or coxcomb diagram) displays categorical data in a circular format where segments are arranged around the center like pie slices, but with radius proportional to the value rather than angle. This visualization excels at showing cyclical or directional patterns where the circular arrangement has natural meaning. The equal-angle wedges make comparison of values across categories intuitive while emphasizing the periodic nature of the data.
#' anyplot.ai
#' rose-basic: Basic Rose Chart
#' Library: ggplot2 3.5.1 | R 4.4.1
#' Quality: 93/100 | Created: 2026-07-25
library(ggplot2)
library(scales)
library(ragg)
set.seed(42)
# --- Theme tokens -----------------------------------------------------------
THEME <- Sys.getenv("ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
PAGE_BG <- if (THEME == "light") "#FAF8F1" else "#1A1A17"
INK <- if (THEME == "light") "#1A1A17" else "#F0EFE8"
INK_SOFT <- if (THEME == "light") "#4A4A44" else "#B8B7B0"
IMPRINT_PALETTE <- c("#009E73", "#C475FD", "#4467A3", "#BD8233",
"#AE3030", "#2ABCCD", "#954477", "#99B314")
BRAND <- IMPRINT_PALETTE[1]
# --- Data --------------------------------------------------------------------
# Average monthly rainfall for a temperate maritime city — wet winters,
# dry summers, the seasonal cycle a coxcomb/rose chart is built to reveal.
months <- factor(month.abb, levels = month.abb)
seasonal_signal <- 95 + 55 * cos(2 * pi * (seq_along(months) - 1) / 12)
rainfall_mm <- pmax(15, seasonal_signal + rnorm(12, mean = 0, sd = 8))
df <- tibble::tibble(month = months, rainfall_mm = rainfall_mm)
# --- Plot ---------------------------------------------------------------------
# Half a bar-width rotation centers January at 12 o'clock instead of its edge.
start_offset <- -(2 * pi / 12) / 2
title_text <- "rose-basic · r · ggplot2 · anyplot.ai"
title_fontsize <- if (nchar(title_text) > 67) round(12 * 67 / nchar(title_text)) else 12
p <- ggplot(df, aes(x = month, y = rainfall_mm, alpha = rainfall_mm)) +
geom_col(fill = BRAND, color = PAGE_BG, linewidth = 0.4, width = 1) +
coord_polar(theta = "x", start = start_offset) +
scale_y_continuous(
limits = c(0, max(df$rainfall_mm) * 1.15),
breaks = pretty(c(0, df$rainfall_mm), n = 4),
expand = c(0, 0)
) +
scale_alpha_continuous(range = c(0.55, 1), guide = "none") +
labs(title = title_text, x = NULL, y = "Rainfall (mm)") +
theme_minimal(base_size = 8) +
theme(
plot.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = PAGE_BG),
panel.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = NA),
panel.grid.major = element_line(color = scales::alpha(INK, 0.15), linewidth = 0.3),
panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
axis.title.y = element_text(color = INK_SOFT, size = 8),
axis.title.x = element_blank(),
axis.text.x = element_text(color = INK, size = 10, face = "bold"),
axis.text.y = element_text(color = INK_SOFT, size = 8),
axis.ticks = element_blank(),
plot.title = element_text(color = INK, size = title_fontsize, hjust = 0.5, margin = margin(b = 12)),
plot.margin = margin(t = 20, r = 30, b = 10, l = 30)
)
# --- Save ---------------------------------------------------------------------
ggsave(
filename = sprintf("plot-%s.png", THEME),
plot = p,
device = ragg::agg_png,
width = 6,
height = 6,
units = "in",
dpi = 400
)
Runnable source as JSON, for any HTTP client: https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/rose-basic/ggplot2/code. Any spec id and library id listed in llms-full.txt fit the same URL shape; every URL below is complete and callable.
{
"spec_id": "rose-basic",
"language": "r",
"library": "ggplot2",
"page": "https://anyplot.ai/rose-basic/r/ggplot2",
"hub": "https://anyplot.ai/rose-basic",
"code_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/rose-basic/ggplot2/code",
"spec_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/rose-basic",
"render_light_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/rose-basic/r/ggplot2/plot-light.png",
"render_dark_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/rose-basic/r/ggplot2/plot-dark.png",
"quality_score": 93.0,
"license": "MIT",
"guide": "https://anyplot.ai/llms.txt"
}Part of Basic Rose Chart on anyplot.ai.