Military tattoo

A military tattoo is a performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe (Dutch for "turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeepers near military garrisons to stop serving beer and for soldiers to return to their barracks and is unrelated to the ink tattoo that was borrowed from Tahitian.^[1]

The tattoo was originally a form of military music but the practice has evolved into more elaborate shows involving theatrics and musical performances. It is also used to designate military exhibitions such as the Royal International Air Tattoo.

^ Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins Julia Cresswell - 2014- Page 106 0199683638 tattoo. Tattoos on the skin came into English in the 18th century from the Polynesian languages of the Pacific Islands—Captain Cook's journals are the first to record the word. The military tattoo sounded by drum or bugle to recall soldiers to their quarters in the evening was originally written tap-too. It comes from Dutch doe den tap toe, literally 'close the tap'. The tap was on a cask; closing it signalled time for drinking was over and soldiers should go home

[1] Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins Julia Cresswell - 2014- Page 106 0199683638 tattoo. Tattoos on the skin came into English in the 18th century from the Polynesian languages of the Pacific Islands—Captain Cook's journals are the first to record the word. The military tattoo sounded by drum or bugle to recall soldiers to their quarters in the evening was originally written tap-too. It comes from Dutch doe den tap toe, literally 'close the tap'. The tap was on a cask; closing it signalled time for drinking was over and soldiers should go home

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