m145)

ipecified for the men, a fine red cloth for the ;aptain, and a white fustian to make ‘letters’— iresumably sonie form of unit identification sewn jnto the jackets. Henry VII’s Yeomen of the Guard ,vore the white and green Tudor livery in vertical itripes witli a red rosę within a vine wreath on chest md back.

The right to use a badge was usually only granted by the king to those nobles who could field a large :ompany, and the granting of a badge was usually iccompanied by the right to use a standard. However, most lords during the Wars of the Roses invented and adopted badges for their own :onvenience. These badges took two forms: the personal badge or badges of a lord, which might be used only by him and were normally reserved for use on his badge-banner (the badge was commonly used on banners instead of the coat of arms during these wars); and the household badge or badges which were used to mark property and were worn on the tunics of his followers and retainers. The household badge was therefore a mark ofownership and/or allcgiance and was generally but not always different from the charges borne on the lord’s coat of arms. The badge was normally worn on the breast or shoulder of the livery tunic.

Because the household badges were widely used—on flags, liveries and all types of property (rather like the WD broad arrow, which was originally the badge of the person responsible for supplying the armed forces of the Crown)—they were far morę widely known by the common people than the lord’s arms. This familiarity was of great advantage in the confusion of battle, when a lord’s company could follow or rally to a flag which borę the same badge as they wore on their own chests.

The following is a list of some of the liveries and badges worn during the Wars of the Roses. In all cases the main colour is quoted first. Notę that some magnates used a number of diirerent badges, dividcd here by semi-colons.

Surviving example of a I5th century brigandine, before restoration. (Department of the Environment)

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