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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.
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 vertically (in heraldic terms per pale) red and white.[1] More often, the Tudor Rose is depicted as a double rose[2], white on red.
Role and uses
Historical uses
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.
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[3]; their daughter Mary I bore the same badge.[4] 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.[5]
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 on the British Twenty Pence coin and the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom. It also features, albeit subtly, on the Coat of arms of Canada.
It is also notably used (albeit, confusingly enough in a monochromatic form) as the symbol of the English Tourist Board[1]. It is used as the name of a brand of fortified wine.
 Tudor rose "slipped and crowned" from the "Pelican Portrait" of Elizabeth I |
 Contemporary badge of the Yeomen of the Guard |
 The British twenty pence coin features a crowned Tudor Rose |
See also
Notes
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: Heraldic Badges, 1907; digitized at Google books, retrieved 1 December 2007.
- Wise, Terence: Medieval Heraldry, Osprey Publishing, 1980, ISBN 0850453488
