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Sub Rosa is the name of the New Zealand Intelligence Corps association. [1] [2] Its members are drawn from serving and retired members of the Corps [3] and others that have served in intelligence positions in the New Zealand Defence Force. [4]
The phrase is Latin and means 'under the rose', because the rose was an emblem of secrecy hung above council tables and confessionals. [5] The origin of which traces to a famous story in which Cupid gave Harpocrates, the god of silence, a rose to bribe him not to betray the confidence of Venus. Hence the ceilings of Roman banquet-rooms were decorated with roses to remind guests that what was spoken sub vino (under the influence of wine) was also sub rosa. The emblem of Sub Rosa is a Tudor Rose.
