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Tudor rose

This article is about the heraldic element. For other uses, seeTudor rose (disambiguation).

TheTudor rose(sometimes called theUnion rose) is the traditional floralheraldic emblemofEnglandand takes its name and origins from theHouse of Tudor,which united theHouse of Lancasterand theHouse of York.The Tudor rose consists of five white inner petals, representing the House of York, and five red outer petals to represent the House of Lancaster.

The Tudor rose is a combination of theRed Rose of Lancasterand theWhite Rose of York.

Origins

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Thewhite roseof theHouse of York
Thered roseof theHouse of Lancaster
Tudor double roseroyally crowned.
Tudor double roseslipped and crowned.

In theBattle of Bosworth Field(1485),Henry VII,of the House of Lancaster, took the crown of England fromRichard III,of the House of York. He thus brought to an end the retrospectively dubbed "Wars of the Roses".Kings of theHouse of Lancasterhad sometimes used a red or gold rose as a badge; and theHouse of Yorkhad used a white rose as a badge. Henry's father wasEdmund Tudor,and his mother wasMargaret Beaufortfrom the House of Lancaster; in January 1486 he marriedElizabeth of Yorkto bring the two factions together. (In battle, Richard III fought under the banner of the boar,[1]and Henry under the banner of the dragon of his native Wales.) The white rose versus red rose juxtaposition was mostly Henry's invention, created to exploit his appeal as a 'peacemaker king'.[2]The historian Thomas Penn writes:

The "Lancastrian" red rose was an emblem that barely existed before Henry VII. Lancastrian kings used the rose sporadically, but when they did it was often gold rather than red;Henry VI,the king who presided over the country's descent into civil war, preferred his badge of theantelope.Contemparies certainly did not refer to the traumatic civil conflict of the 15th century as the "Wars of the Roses". For the best part of a quarter-century, from 1461 to 1485, there was only one royal rose, and it was white: the badge of Edward IV. The roses were actually created after the war by Henry VII.[2]

On his marriage, Henry VII adopted the Tudor rose badge conjoining theWhite Rose of Yorkand theRed Rose of Lancaster.The Tudor rose is occasionally seen divided in quarters (heraldically as "quartered" ) and vertically (inheraldic termsper pale) red and white.[3]More often, the Tudor rose is depicted as adouble rose,[4]white on red and is always described, heraldically, as "proper"(that is, naturally-coloured, despite not actually existing in nature).

16th-century woodcut of the coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon showing them with their respective badges: the Tudor rose and the Spanish pomegranate
Tudor rosedimidiatedwith the Spanish pomegranate.
Tudor rose,dimidiatedwith the thistle, crowned.
Tudor rose (upper left)slippedand crownedfrom thePelican PortraitofElizabeth I.

Historical uses

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Henry VII was reserved in his usage of the Tudor rose. He regularly used the Lancastrian rose by itself, being the house to which he descended. His successorHenry VIII,descended from the House of York as well through his mother, would use the rose more often.[5]

WhenArthur, Prince of Wales,died in 1502, his tomb inWorcester Cathedralused both roses; thereby asserting his royal descent from both the houses of Lancaster and York.[5]

During his reign, Henry VIII had the legendary "Round Table"atWinchester Castle– then believed to be genuine – repainted.[6]The new paint scheme included a Tudor rose in the centre. Previous to this, his father Henry VII had built theHenry VII ChapelatWestminster Abbey(it was later used for the site of his tomb) and it was decorated principally with the Tudor rose and theBeaufort portcullis– as a form of propaganda to define his claim to the throne.

The Tudor rose badge may appearslipped and crowned:shown as a cutting with a stem and leaves beneath a crown; this badge appears inNicholas Hilliard's "Pelican Portrait" of Elizabeth I and since an Order in Council (dated 5 November 1800), has served as theroyal floral emblem of England.

The Tudor rose may also appeardimidiated(cut in half and combined with half another emblem) to form a compound badge. TheWestminster Tournament Rollincludes a badge of Henry and his first wifeCatherine of Aragonwith a slipped Tudor rose conjoined with Catherine's personal badge, the Spanishpomegranate;[7]their daughterMary Ibore the same badge.[8]Following his ascent to the English throne,James VI of Scotland and I of Englandused a badge consisting of a Tudor rose dimidiated with aScottish thistleand surmounted by a royal crown.[9]

Contemporary uses

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The crowned and slipped Tudor rose is used as the plant badge of England, as Scotland uses thethistle,Wales uses theleek,and Ireland uses theshamrock(Northern Ireland sometimes usingflaxinstead). As such, it is seen on the dress uniforms of theYeomen Wardersat theTower of London,and of theYeomen of the Guard.It features in the design of the20-pence coinminted between 1982 and 2008, and in theroyal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.It also features on thecoat of arms of Canada.

As part of the badge of theSupreme Court of the United Kingdom,the Tudor rose represents England alongside the floral badges of the other constituent parts of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The heraldic badge of theRoyal Navy'scurrent flagship aircraft carrierHMSQueen Elizabethuses a Tudor rose with colours divided vertically (per pale), inheriting the heraldry of the early twentieth centurysuper-dreadnoughtoil-firedfast battleshipHMSQueen Elizabeth.The Tudor rose makes up part of thecap badgeof theIntelligence Corpsof theBritish Army.The Tudor rose is used as the emblem ofThe Nautical Training Corps,a uniformed youth organisation founded inBrightonin 1944 with 20 units inSouth East England.The corps badge has the Tudor Rose on the shank of an anchor with themotto"For God, Queen and Country". It is also used as part of the Corps' cap badge.

The Tudor rose is also prominent in a number of towns and cities. The Royal Town ofSutton Coldfield,uses the emblem frequently, due to the town being givenRoyal Townstatus by Henry VIII. The Tudor rose appears on thecoat of arms of Oxford.It is also notably used (albeit in a monochromatic form) as the symbol ofVisitEngland,England'stourist board.[10]A half-and-half design was used as the "Border Rose" in some parts ofTodmorden,a conurbation that was historically bisected by the Yorkshire-Lancashire border.[11]

The borough and county ofQueensinNew York Cityuses a Tudor rose on itsflagand seal.[12]The flag and seal ofAnnapolis, Maryland,features a Tudor rose and a thistle surmounted with a crown. The city ofYork, South Carolinais nicknamed "The White Rose City", and the nearby city ofLancaster, South Carolinais nicknamed "The Red Rose City".York, PennsylvaniaandLancaster, Pennsylvaniaare similarly nicknamed, using stylized white and red roses in their emblems, respectively.

There are ten tudor roses present on the crest of theEngland national football team.

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toTudor rose.

Notes

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  1. ^"boar".concise.britannica. Archived fromthe originalon 14 October 2007.Retrieved21 June2007.In Europe the boar is one of the four heraldic beasts of the chase and was the distinguishing mark of Richard III, king of England.
  2. ^abPenn, Thomas."How Henry VII branded the Tudors",The Guardian,2 March 2012
  3. ^Wise, p. 22
  4. ^Fox-Davies,The Complete Guide to Heraldry,p. 270
  5. ^abRyrie, Alec (2017).The Age of Reformation: the Tudor and Stewart Realms, 1485-1603.Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. p. 47.
  6. ^Starkey, p. 41
  7. ^Fox-Davies (1909), p. 276
  8. ^Boutell, p. 229
  9. ^Fox-Davies (1907), p. 117.
  10. ^rradmin (26 March 2018)."Home".VisitEngland.Retrieved19 January2020.
  11. ^Himelfield, Dave (11 June 2022)."Small town 'stuck in the middle' between Yorkshire and Lancashire".YorkshireLive.
  12. ^Levine, Alexandra S. (14 June 2017)."New York Today: Decoding Our Borough Flags".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved18 April2019.

References

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