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 (Red Rose) and the House of York (White Rose). His mother was Margaret Beaufort from the House of Lancaster, His father was Edmund Tudor from the House of Richmond; he married Elizabeth of York to bring all factions together.

In so doing he created the Tudor rose, conjoining the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. In heraldry, the rose is depicted as white on red if placed on a field of a colour, or red on white if placed on a field of a metal (gold or silver), due to the law of tincture.

The use of roses evolved from a Greek myth: Aphrodite presented a rose to her son Eros, God of love. The Rose became a symbol of love and desire. Eros gave the rose to Harpocrates, the God of silence, to induce him not to gossip about his Mother's indiscretions. Thus the rose became the emblem of silence and secrecy. In the middle ages a rose was suspended from the ceiling of a council chamber, pledging all present to secrecy. or sub Rosa, "under the Rose". Henry Tudor and Elizabeth had many children, Henry VIII being the most famous, or infamous.