Red Rose of Lancaster

rdf:langString Red Rose of Lancaster

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rdf:langString Flag of Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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rdf:langString Flag of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.svg

rdf:langString Flag of Montreal.svg

rdf:langString The Red Rose of Lancaster (blazoned: a rose gules) was the heraldic badge adopted by the royal House of Lancaster in the 14th century. In modern times it symbolises the county of Lancashire. The exact species or cultivar which it represents is thought to be Rosa gallica officinalis. The red rose was first adopted as a heraldic badge by John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340–1399) third surviving son of King Edward III of England and father of King Henry IV, the first Lancastrian king, who seized the throne from his first cousin King Richard II. John of Gaunt's younger brother Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (1341–1402), adopted the White rose of York as his heraldic badge. Their respective descendants fought for control of the throne of England during several decades of civil warfare, which became known as the Wars of the Roses, after the badges of the two competing cadet royal houses. During the civil wars of the fifteenth century the red rose was the symbol of Lancastrian forces opposed to the rival House of York. The opposition of the two roses gave the wars their name: the Wars of the Roses, coined in the 19th century. The conflict was ended by King Henry VII of England who, upon marrying Elizabeth of York, symbolically united the red and white roses to create the Tudor Rose, the symbol of the Tudor dynasty.