“Sub rosa” means “under the rose” in Latin, and is associated with secrecy and confidentiality. The rose symbolizes silence, with secret meetings held under a rose to remind participants to remain silent. The tradition of depicting roses on private spaces endures, and the term is used today as a euphemism for covert operations.
The term sub rosa is Latin for “under the rose”, the term has a connotation of secrecy and confidentiality. Something that is said to be sub rosa should not be repeated or widely disseminated, and could be considered “off the record”. The link between being under the rose and privacy goes back to ancient times.
In Egypt, roses were connected to the god Horus, who was associated with silence by the Greeks and Romans due to an unfortunate mistranslation of a hieroglyphic representation of Horus. As a result, the Greeks and Romans began using the rose as a symbol of silence, with secret meetings literally being held under a rose to remind those present that they must remain silent about the events of the meeting.
The Romans also painted roses on the roofs of their banquet halls, to remind guests that they should remain silent about banquet events and that comments called “sub vino”, under the influence of wine, should not be repeated. The dissemination of information said during a sub rosa event or conversation would have been seen as an extremely unwise move politically and socially if the gossiper had been caught.
The tradition of depicting roses on spaces intended for privacy and silence endures. Many confessionals, for example, have rose motifs to remind those in the confessional that the conversation is sub rosa, and rose motifs can also be seen in some private rooms in the halls of parliament.
In medieval times, the concept of meeting or conversation sub rosa persisted and roses were hung in private rooms and meeting rooms to remind those present that privacy was essential. Generally, the fact that the conversation was sub rosa would not have been made explicit, as people were expected to know that sitting under a rose represented a contractual obligation to remain silent.
In modern times, people may specify that a conversation is “sub rosa” to make sure those involved understand it is meant to be private, and the term is also used as a euphemism for covert operations.
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