Rosemary Meaning: Remembrance From Hamlet to Anzac Day, and Why Only 1 of 4 Victorian Dictionaries Links It to Fidelity

Rosemary means remembrance. In Hamlet, Ophelia hands out rosemary with the line “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance,” and Australians wear a sprig of it on Anzac Day. Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus, formerly Rosmarinus officinalis) is an evergreen herb from the Mediterranean. Tradition also ties it to fidelity between lovers, which is why sprigs turned up at weddings as well as funerals. All four Victorian flower dictionaries I read tie rosemary to remembrance, and only one of them, Tyas (1869), mentions fidelity. A 2017 study of DNA relationships recommended placing rosemary in the sage genus, and its common name did not change.

This page is part of our flower symbolism and meaning guide. Where sources disagree, the disagreement is shown, and folklore is labelled as folklore.

What does rosemary symbolize?

Rosemary symbolizes remembrance first and fidelity second, and the Christian and protective meanings rest on tradition rather than on a documented origin.

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The takeaway is that remembrance is documented in print, fidelity and funerals are described as custom, and the legend and protection meanings are folklore.

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance”: rosemary in Hamlet

Rosemary means remembrance in Hamlet because Ophelia says so while she hands out flowers in Act 4, scene 5.

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.”

Ophelia, Hamlet, Act 4, scene 5 (Folger Shakespeare Library text)

Her next lines hand out fennel and columbines, rue, and a daisy. She adds that she would give violets, “but they withered all when my father died.”

The Folger Shakespeare Library writes that in Shakespeare’s time rosemary was a symbol of remembrance, friendship and fidelity, used in weddings and funerals. The same essay says Shakespeare’s audiences knew Ophelia was hinting at her own death.

Rosemary appears in two more plays. In The Winter’s Tale (Act 4, scene 4), Perdita says “For you there’s rosemary and rue. These keep Seeming and savor all the winter long. Grace and remembrance be to you both.” In Romeo and Juliet (Act 4, scene 5), Friar Lawrence tells the mourners “Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary on this fair corse.” All three passages tie rosemary to remembrance, grace or mourning.

Why does rosemary mean remembrance?

The sources tie rosemary to remembrance through an old belief that it strengthened memory. The Australian War Memorial says that since ancient times the herb has been believed to improve the memory. Mrs Grieve’s Modern Herbal says the ancients were well acquainted with the shrub, “which had a reputation for strengthening the memory.” Tyas (1869) says Hungary water, which is said to be distilled from rosemary, was formerly thought to strengthen the memory, “on which account Shakspeare wrote” the line Ophelia speaks.

JSTOR Daily reports two older traditions. Greek and Roman students wore rosemary crowns during exams to aid memory, and the evergreen leaves symbolized the immortality of the soul.

One modern test touches the belief. A 2003 study in the International Journal of Neuroscience assigned 144 volunteers at random to smell rosemary oil, smell lavender oil or smell no odour while they did computerised cognitive tests. Rosemary improved the overall quality of memory and slowed the speed of memory. The no-odour group reported feeling less alert than the rosemary group. The study tested the smell of an essential oil and did not test wearing or eating the herb.

What do the Victorian flower dictionaries say about rosemary?

Three of the four Victorian dictionaries I searched print remembrance as the entry meaning, and Tyas prints “your presence revives me” and reaches remembrance through the Hamlet line in his text. Flora’s gives “your presence revives me” alongside remembrance. The Smithsonian Gardens lesson plan on the language of flowers makes the same point in one line: rosemary was for “remembrance.”

The takeaway is that remembrance is the one meaning all four books share, and fidelity appears only in Tyas’s explanatory text.

Tyas reaches remembrance through the Hamlet line, where the other three print it in the entry. His entry heading is “Your presence revives me.”

Fidelity is a printed meaning for other plants in these books. Greenaway gives “Fidelity. Marriage.” to ivy, “Fidelity.” to plum tree and veronica, and “Fidelity in adversity” to wall-flower. Flora’s gives fidelity to ivy, veronica, plum tree and wallflower. In neither book is rosemary on that list.

Rosemary at weddings: fidelity between lovers

Rosemary stood for fidelity between lovers, and two books say it was worn at weddings. Tyas writes that rosemary “was also deemed the emblem of Fidelity between lovers, and so was worn at weddings.” Mrs Grieve writes “At weddings, it was entwined in the wreath worn by the bride.” Tyas gives no date or earlier source for the custom. Grieve adds that Anne of Cleves, “we are told, wore such a wreath at her wedding,” and quotes a sermon published in 1607, Roger Hacket’s “A Marriage Present,” which calls rosemary an “ensigne of your wisdom, love and loyaltie.”

The Drayton verse that Worthington quotes pairs love with memory. In it a sweetheart sends rosemary, “whose intent / Is that he her should in remembrance have.”

The Australian War Memorial calls rosemary an emblem of both fidelity and remembrance in literature and folklore. It gives no wedding custom and no date.

Rosemary at funerals: remembrance of the dead

Rosemary was carried and thrown at funerals as a sign of remembrance, and Tyas also gives repentance. Grieve writes “A sprig of Rosemary was carried in the hand at funerals.” Tyas describes Wales and Cheshire, where a few stalks were bound together and given to each mourner, who cast the bunch onto the coffin at the grave. He adds that rosemary “symbolized repentance, and hence its adoption at funerals,” and that mourners were “expressing, as we presume, their faithful and lasting remembrance of the dead.”

Worthington cites a Mr Martyn. In some parts of England in his time it was still the custom to hand rosemary round to the company, who often threw sprigs into the grave, and slips of it were sometimes placed in the coffin. Friar Lawrence’s line in Romeo and Juliet has rosemary placed on the body at a death.

If you are choosing flowers for a funeral today, our guide to sympathy flowers and what each bloom means across cultures and our page on flowers for grief and remembrance cover what to send.

Rosemary on Anzac Day: why sprigs are worn

Rosemary matters on Anzac Day because it grows wild on the Gallipoli peninsula. The Australian War Memorial says that “Rosemary has particular significance for Australians, as it is found growing wild on the Gallipoli peninsula.” It adds that sprigs are traditionally worn on Anzac Day, and sometimes on Remembrance Day, and are usually handed out by Legacy and the RSL.

RSL Victoria says rosemary has long been linked to remembrance and that its link to Anzac Day dates to the First World War. It describes rosemary as native to the seaside regions of the Mediterranean and growing wild on the slopes of the Gallipoli Peninsula. The ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland) says people pin small sprigs in the coat lapel, over the breast, or hold them in place with medals.

One origin story is told as tradition. RSL Victoria says “Tradition has it that a wounded Digger brought home a small rosemary bush from ANZAC Cove,” and that cuttings from it were reportedly propagated in nurseries across Australia. I did not find a record that names the soldier.

In New Zealand, the Otago Daily Times reported on 25 April 2014 that more than 50 volunteers had made 4,500 rosemary posies for servicemen’s graves in Dunedin. A volunteer told the paper “Rosemary is for remembrance,” and the article notes that the herb grows wild on Gallipoli.

The Australian War Memorial page gives two reasons for rosemary’s significance: its old reputation for improving memory and its growth on Gallipoli. It does not mention Shakespeare.

The Virgin Mary legend and the name “rosemary”

Christian tradition links rosemary to the Virgin Mary, and I found no documented source for the best-known version. Grieve writes that “The Spaniards revere it as one of the bushes that gave shelter to the Virgin Mary in the flight into Egypt.” JSTOR Daily says the pale-blue flowers were called the “Rose of Mary,” and that their colour symbolizes the Virgin Mary’s divinity.

The cloak version says white flowers turned blue when Mary’s cloak touched the bush. In one retelling on the Laidback Gardener blog the “purplish blue of her cloak had dripped onto the shrub’s dull white flowers, staining them a beautiful soft blue.” The post cites no written source. In a reply to a comment, its author wrote that “no one really knows” the true derivation and that the “dew of the sea” theory is “currently the most popular.”

The name has a plainer history. Wiktionary gives the Latin rosmarinus, from ros (“dew, moisture”) and marinus (“of the sea”). It describes the English spelling as an alteration of the earlier Middle English rosmarine, based on rose and Mary. On that account the Mary’s-rose reading comes from a later respelling of the word.

Rosemary, witches and protection: what folklore says

Folklore treats rosemary as a protector, and the evidence for that is a record of belief, not of effect. Grieve writes that in Spain and Italy it “has been considered a safeguard from witches and evil influences generally.” JSTOR Daily says ancient Egyptians buried the dead with rosemary to protect their souls, and quotes a study of ritual plants: “There is a belief that this aromatic plant keeps evil spirits at bay.” The Folger essay adds that in Shakespeare’s time rosemary was prescribed for ills that included nightmares.

These claims are traditions. None of the sources I read tests whether rosemary protects anyone from anything.

Salvia rosmarinus: the 2017 paper and the RHS change

Rosemary’s botanical name is now Salvia rosmarinus, and the common name “rosemary” did not change. The name rests on a paper by Drew and colleagues in Taxon (2017). The authors used two low-copy nuclear gene regions to test relationships in the sage genus Salvia. They concluded that the botanical community would be best served by a broadly defined Salvia that includes five small genera, Rosmarinus among them.

The Royal Horticultural Society adopted the change. Gardens Illustrated reported on 27 November 2019 that the RHS was adopting Salvia rosmarinus, quoted John David, the RHS Head of Horticultural Taxonomy, as saying “It is important that our naming system reflects the latest science,” and noted that rosemary and salvias had been separate genera since 1753. The RHS plant profile now lists Salvia rosmarinus with the name status “Correct,” gives Rosmarinus officinalis as a synonym and places the plant in the family Lamiaceae.

The change does not touch the symbolism. Every tradition above attaches to the plant called rosemary, whatever genus a botanist puts it in.

From meaning to care: growing your own rosemary

Rosemary is evergreen, so where a plant survives winter its sprigs stay on the bush. The RHS rates it H4, hardy through most of the UK (−10 to −5 °C), and gives its range as Mediterranean. Our zone-by-zone rosemary growing guide covers where it survives winter and how to plant it. If you already own a plant, our guide to caring for rosemary covers the drainage rule behind year-two decline.

Rosemary meaning FAQ

What does rosemary symbolize?

Rosemary symbolizes remembrance. Ophelia says so in Hamlet, and Greenaway and Worthington give it as the entry meaning, and Flora’s lists it beside “your presence revives me.” Tyas (1869) also links it to fidelity between lovers.

What does rosemary mean in Hamlet?

Ophelia says “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance” in Act 4, scene 5. The Folger Shakespeare Library says Shakespeare’s audiences knew she was hinting at her own death.

Why do people wear rosemary on Anzac Day?

Rosemary has particular significance for Australians because it grows wild on the Gallipoli peninsula, according to the Australian War Memorial. Sprigs are traditionally worn on Anzac Day and are usually handed out by Legacy and the RSL.

What does rosemary mean at a funeral?

It means remembrance of the dead, and Tyas also says it stood for repentance. Tyas describes mourners in Wales and Cheshire casting bunches onto the coffin, and Worthington says sprigs were thrown into the grave in some parts of England.

Does rosemary mean fidelity or love?

Tyas says rosemary was the emblem of fidelity between lovers and was worn at weddings. Greenaway and Flora’s print fidelity for other plants, and none of the four lists it as the entry meaning for rosemary.

What is the spiritual meaning of rosemary?

In folklore it is a protector and a Marian plant. Grieve says Spain and Italy treated it as a safeguard from witches and evil influences, and Spanish tradition says it sheltered the Virgin Mary on the flight into Egypt. These are traditions and not documented facts.

Is rosemary still called Rosmarinus officinalis?

Botanists now call it Salvia rosmarinus. The RHS lists Rosmarinus officinalis as a synonym, and the common name “rosemary” is unchanged.

Does rosemary really improve memory?

A 2003 study of 144 volunteers found that smelling rosemary oil raised the overall quality of memory and slowed the speed of memory. It tested the aroma of the oil only.

Sources

1. Shakespeare, W. Hamlet, Act 4, scene 5. Folger Shakespeare Library digital text
2. Shakespeare, W. The Winter’s Tale, Act 4, scene 4. Folger Shakespeare Library digital text
3. Shakespeare, W. Romeo and Juliet, Act 4, scene 5. Folger Shakespeare Library digital text
4. French, E. The Elizabethan Garden: 11 plants Shakespeare would have known well. Folger Shakespeare Library, Shakespeare & Beyond, 31 May 2016
5. Greenaway, K. Language of Flowers. George Routledge and Sons (Project Gutenberg ebook 31591)
6. Tyas, R. The Language of Flowers: or, Floral Emblems of Thoughts, Feelings, and Sentiments. George Routledge and Sons, 1869. Internet Archive
7. Flora’s Pocket Dictionary: A Lexicon of the Language and Sentiment of Flowers. Porter and Coates, Philadelphia, 1870. Internet Archive
8. The Language of Flowers, Including Floral Poetry. R. Worthington, New York, 1884. Internet Archive
9. Smithsonian Gardens. The Language of Flowers (historic bloom lesson plan)
10. Australian War Memorial. Rosemary (Commemoration, Customs; page last updated 1 October 2026)
11. RSL Victoria. The traditions of Anzac Day
12. ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland) Inc. Rosemary is for Remembrance
13. Otago Daily Times. Posies made for graves (25 April 2014)
14. Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal: Rosemary. Botanical.com
15. Foster, N. Rosemary: The Herb of Ritual and Remembrance. JSTOR Daily, 20 December 2024 (updated 3 December 2025)
16. Moss, M., Cook, J., Wesnes, K. and Duckett, P. Aromas of rosemary and lavender essential oils differentially affect cognition and mood in healthy adults. International Journal of Neuroscience 113(1), 15–38 (2003), doi:10.1080/00207450390161903
17. Drew, B.T., González-Gallegos, J.G., Xiang, C.-L., Kriebel, R., Drummond, C.P., Walker, J.B. and Sytsma, K.J. Salvia united: The greatest good for the greatest number. Taxon 66(1), 133–145 (2017), doi:10.12705/661.7
18. Bowie-Sell, D. Rosemary is now a salvia, according to the RHS. Gardens Illustrated, 27 November 2019
19. Royal Horticultural Society. Salvia rosmarinus (plant profile)
20. Wiktionary. rosemary (etymology)
21. Hodgson, L. How rosemary got its name: a Christmas legend. Laidback Gardener, 25 December 2017