The Tudor Rose, crowned. Credit: Wikipedia/Sodacan CC3.0.
King Henry VII's Tudor Rose
The distinctive Tudor rose, less frequently referred to as the Union rose, was created in the wake of England's Wars of the Roses (back then, they were known as the Hundred Year's War and the Civil Wars). The conflict was fought between members of the houses of Lancaster and York, both descended from John of Gaunt, as they claimed, reclaimed and ousted one another from the throne.
At the time, the name "Wars of the Roses" was not used to describe the bloodshed. This label was awarded by Henry VII after the event as he worked to establish the Tudor rose in his people's minds. Henry chose the red and white colour scheme for his Tudor rose when he married Elizabeth of York in January 1486.
He successfully established the double rose design with five red petals set around five smaller white petals with a gold centre as the Tudor dynasty's emblem. It is still used today.
The Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London and Henry VII's Chapel
The emblem was almost historically accurate. The House of York utilised a white rose. Before Henry VII's reign, the House of Lancaster had traditionally used a gold rose for their personal emblems; for example, Henry VI used an antelope. A red rose was less commonly adopted. Henry changed this so that we barely know the gold version existed.
Henry VII used the Tudor rose sparingly because he preferred to assert the supremacy of the House of Lancaster over York by using a red rose on its own, but he chose the Tudor emblem and its colours for the newly constructed Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey.
He established his select group of bodyguards, the Yeoman Warders, at the Tower of London in 1485; it's the oldest military corps in the world. The badge and chest section of the Tudor Dress version of their uniform featured a Tudor rose flanked by an Irish shamrock and a Scottish thistle.
Henry VIII Understood the Power of the Tudor Rose
His sons Arthur, Prince of Wales, and King Henry VIII used the Tudor rose more frequently than Henry VII because they were the progeny of the Tudor rose's power, maintaining peace. Arthur, Prince of Wales, died young; his tomb bears a Tudor rose.
The legendary round table from the reign of (mythical) 6th-century King Arthur Pendragon was situated in Winchester. It was repainted on Henry VIII's orders, with the Tudor rose added to its centre.
Dimidiated Tudor roses were half of the rose emblem used with another half emblem. For example, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon's emblem featured the left-hand side of the Tudor rose, and the right side was half of Catherine's emblem, a pomegranate. They had their joint emblem "slipped and crowned," shown on a stem and with a crown surmounting the rose.
Henry VIII's wily daughter Elizabeth I realised the strength of the imagery of the Tudor rose. In Nicholas Hillyard's Pelican Portrait, a slipped and crowned Tudor rose was painted adjacent to the queen's head.
England's Rose and Another British Tradition: "The Tudor Rose" Pub
In November 1800, England's rose, essentially a red Tudor rose, was officially adopted as the national emblem.
Occasional variations to the double rose have been used. Four petals in a quartered design, red petals on the left, white on the right, with a crown above the rose, is an emblem used by the Royal Navy. The HMS Queen Elizabeth bears this version of the rose, and the crown's uprights are in the form of sails and ship wheels.
The United Kingdom's Supreme Court's emblem features four floral references: the rose for England, flax for Northern Ireland, a leek for Wales and a thistle for Scotland. Sir Peter Blake created the simplified carpet version of the emblem that can be seen on the floors of Middlesex Guildhall, the Supreme Court's London premises.
Today "The Tudor Rose" is a popular name for restaurants, pubs, bars and hotels throughout England. Henry would be delighted that his PR campaign still has influence in the 21st century.
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