Rose (heraldry)

Heraldic rose
Heraldic rose as keystone on the vault of a sacristy in Landshut

The rose is a common device in heraldry. It is often used both as a charge on a coat of arms and by itself as an heraldic badge. The heraldic rose has a stylized form consisting of five symmetrical lobes, five barbs, and a circular seed. The rose is one of the most common plant symbols in heraldry, together with the lily, which also has a stylistic representation in the fleur-de-lis.[1]

The rose was the symbol of the English Tudor dynasty, and the ten-petaled Tudor rose (termed a double rose) is associated with England. Roses also feature prominently in the arms of the princely House of Lippe and on the seal of Martin Luther.

  1. ^ Slater, Stephen (2006). The Illustrated Book of Heraldry. London: Hermes House, 90.

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