Why were conference room ceilings
decorated with plaster roses?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
July 15, 2001
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Roses-from Temple of Flora
by Dr. Robert J. Thornton
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Sub rosa is a Roman term and literally means "under the rose". The Romans borrowed the idea from the Greeks. The Greek god of silence, Harpocrates, was the last son of the Egyptian god, Osiris. It was said he was born with his finger to his mouth, a symbol that even today means silence.
The rose was sacred to Harpocrates. During the Greek and Persian wars, the Greeks made battle plans under a bower of roses. This signified that nothing said there was to be repeated.
"Under the rose" became a tradition with the Romans, roses were hung from the ceilings wherever secret and mysterious meetings took place.
In the Middle Ages, conference rooms had ceilings decorated with plaster roses. And the "White Rose" was a secret group who worked against the Nazis in the 1920's and 30's.
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