“The Rose of No Man’s Land” (or in French “La rose sous les boulets”) is a song written as a tribute to the Red Cross nurses at the front lines of World War I. The rose represents the nurses and “No Man’s Land” refers to the unoccupied ground between opposing trenches.
The song was written by two men from Boston, music composed by James Alexander Brennan and the lyrics written by Jack Caddigan. They collaborated on many songs together with most of their work being published from around 1911 to 1922.
Boston music publisher Jack Mendelsohn Music Co. was the first to publish the song in 1918. While we couldn’t find information on the artist (please let us know if anyone knows!), the cover art for the sheet music clearly serves as the inspiration behind the tattoo imagery of the Rose of No Man’s Land – the nurse’s head nestled inside of a rose.
Shortly after, New Yorker Leo Feist published the “Patriotic War Edition” of the song through his music publishing company Leo Feist Inc..
This edition was printed on a smaller paper than usual in cooperation with the government to conserve paper during the war. It also included a French version of the lyrics written by Louis Delamarre.
Here are some of the notable lyrics:
There’s a rose that grows on “No Man’s Land”
And it’s wonderful to see,
Tho’ its spray’d with tears, it will live for years,
In my garden of memory.It’s the one red rose the soldier knows,
It’s the work of the Master’s hand;
Mid the War’s great curse, Stands the Red Cross Nurse,
She’s the rose of “No Man’s Land”.
It’s hard to know for sure when the song was translated into a tattoo motif and by whom, but the design can be seen in the sketchbooks of early tattoo pioneers and legends like Gus Wagner (1872~1941) and Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins (1911~1973).
The Rose of No Man’s Land has become an extremely recognizable and iconic traditional tattoo motif throughout the years. The design typically features a woman’s face (lady head) wearing a white nurse’s cap with the Red Cross emblem in the center of it. The nurse’s head is nestled in the center of a long-stemmed red rose and a large square cross is placed in the background, completing the imagery.
You may have seen versions without the large square cross or versions where the rose is placed below the nurse head instead of enveloping it. Either way, as long as there is a nurse head and a rose in the design, you may still hear it being called a Rose of No Man’s Land. However, a detail not to be missed is the nurse’s cap with the Red Cross emblem.
Much like the song, a Rose of No Man’s Land tattoo symbolize love and appreciation for caregivers. It’s a perfect design to choose if you want to honor a personal hero, friend or a family member who is a caregiver.
It’s not uncommon to see spin-off versions of the design where the rose is replaced by a different flower, or the nurse is replaced be an animal. This is a great way to add a more personal touch to the tattoo. For example, the “Shark of No Man’s Land” shown below pays tribute to a nurse friend who happened to love sharks.
At the end of the day, you may want to get a Rose of No Man’s Land tattooed just because you love the imagery. Whatever your reason is, this is a traditional design you can’t go wrong with.
