White Rose of York
The
White Rose of York (also called the Rose
alba or rose argent), a white heraldic rose, is the symbol of the House of York and has since been adopted as a
symbol of Yorkshire
as a whole.
History
Traditionally the origins of the emblem are said to go back to
Edmund of Langley in the
fourteenth century, the first
Duke of
York and the founder of the
House of
York as a
Cadet branch of the then
ruling
House of Plantagenet.
The actual symbolism behind the rose has religious connotations as
it represents the
Virgin Mary,
who was often called the
Mystical Rose of Heaven. The
Yorkist rose is white in colour, because in Christian
liturgical symbolism, white is the symbol
of
light, typifying
innocence and
purity,
joy and
glory.
During the civil wars of the fifteenth century, the White Rose was
the symbol of Yorkist forces opposed to the rival
House of Lancaster, whose symbol was the
Red Rose of Lancaster. The
opposition of the two roses gave the wars their name: the
Wars of the Roses. The conflict was ended
by King
Henry VII of England,
who symbolically united the White and Red Roses to create the
Tudor Rose, symbol of the
Tudor dynasty. In the late Seventeenth Century
the
Jacobites took up the White Rose of
York as their emblem, celebrating "White Rose Day" on
10 June, the anniversary of the birth of
James III and VIII in
1688.
At the
Battle of
Minden
on August 1, 1759,
Yorkshiremen of the King's Own Yorkshire Light
Infantry's predecessor the 51st Regiment picked white roses
from bushes near to the battlefields as a tribute to their fallen
comrades who had died. They stuck the plucked white roses in
their coats as a tribute.
Yorkshire
Day is held on this date each year.
See also
References
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
