Tudor rose

For the 1936 film see Tudor Rose (film).

The Tudor rose.

The Tudor Rose (sometimes called the Union Rose) is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the Tudor dynasty.

Origins

When Henry Tudor took the crown of England from Richard III in battle, he brought about the end of the Wars of the Roses between the House of Lancaster (whose badge was a red rose) and the House of York (whose badge was a white rose). His father was Edmund Tudor from the House of Richmond, and his mother was Margaret Beaufort from the House of Lancaster; he married Elizabeth of York to bring all factions together. Actualy, Richard III was fighting under the banner of the boar, and Henry under the banner of the dragon of his native Wales. The white rose/red rose idea was thought up by Henry Tudor years later.

On his marriage, Henry adopted the Tudor Rose badge conjoining the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster. The Tudor Rose is occasionally seen divided in quarters (heraldically as "quartered") and vertically (in heraldic terms per pale) red and white. More often, the Tudor Rose is depicted as a double rose, white over red and is always described, heraldically, as "proper".

Historical uses

16th century woodcut of the coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon shows them with their badges, the Tudor rose and the pomegranate.

During his reign, Henry VIII had the "Round Table" at Winchester Castle — then believed to be genuine — repainted. The new paint scheme included a Tudor Rose in the centre.

The Tudor rose badge might be slipped and crowned, that is, shown as a cutting with a stem and leaves beneath a crown; this badge appears in Nicholas Hilliard's "Pelican Portrait" of Elizabeth I and is now the Royal Floral emblem of England.

The Tudor rose might also be dimidiated (cut in half and combined with half another emblem) to form a compound badge. The Westminster Tournament Roll includes a badge of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon with a slipped Tudor rose conjoined with Catherine's personal badge, the pomegranate; their daughter Mary I bore the same badge. James I of England and VI of Scotland used a badge of a Tudor rose dimidiated with a thistle and surmounted by a royal crown.

Contemporary uses

The Tudor rose is used as the plant badge of England, as Scotland uses the thistle, Ireland uses the shamrock, and Wales uses the leek. As such, it is seen on the dress uniforms of the Yeomen Warders at the Tower of London, and of the Yeomen of the Guard. It features in the design of the British Twenty Pence coin minted between 1982 and 2008, and in the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. It also features, albeit subtly, on the coat of arms of Canada.

The Tudor Rose makes up part of the cap badge of the Intelligence Corps of the British Army. It is also notably used (albeit, confusingly enough in a monochromatic form) as the symbol of the English Tourist Board. and as part of the badge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

The Tudor rose is also used in the badges of some Portuguese Army units, after William, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe, namely Lisbon Classification and Selection Cabinet and Graça Fort.

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  Tudor rose "slipped and crowned" from the Pelican Portrait of Elizabeth I

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  Contemporary badge of the Yeomen of the Guard

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  Tudor rose badge, used by every British Monarch since Henry VII

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  The Tudor rose used on the chain in the portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger

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  Tudor rose used for the reverse of the original Twenty pence (British coin).

See also

• Flag of England
• Tudor dynasty
• Wars of the Roses
• White Rose of York
• Red Rose of Lancaster

References

• Boutell, Charles: The Handbook to English Heraldry, edited A. C. Fox-Davies, 11th edition, Reeves & Turner, London, 1914. Etext at Project Gutenberg
• Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles: The Art of Heraldry, 1904; facsimile edition Arno Press, 1976.
• Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles: The Complete Guide to Heraldry, 1909 Reprint edition, Bonanza 1978 Printing
• Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles: Heraldic Badges, 1907; digitized at Google books, retrieved 1 December 2007.
• Wise, Terence: Medieval Heraldry, Osprey Publishing, 1980, ISBN 0-85045-348-8

External links

• Tudor Rose in SF Presidio, CH+D Magazine