House of York

Banner Quarterly: 1 and 4 Azure, three fleurs de lis Or; 2 and 3 Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure.

Pendón cuartelado: 1^o y 4^o de azur, tres flores de lis de oro; 2^o y 3^o de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur.

Banner interpreted by me as follows: with the proportions of 5x6, like a shield; the field is coloured in flat tinctures Gules and Azure; the fleurs-de-lis and the leopards are outlined in Sable and illuminated in Or; and the banner’s finish resembles fabric.

Its design follows [Edward IV of England; 1461; row 27, 2^nd column, final banner]:

• which represents what are considered «the royal arms of England»,
• which were also borne by Henry V of England,
• which Henry VI of England placed in the 2^nd quarter of a per pale shield, where he set those of France in the 1^st, and
• which were restored by Henry IV, as shown here.

---

Blazon keywords: Quarterly, Azure, Or, Three, Fleur de lis, Ordered, Gules, Leopard, Armed, Langued and In pale.

Style keywords: Rectangular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Fabric.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Flag, Banner of arms, Kingdom of England and House of York.

Bearer: Edward IV of England.

Composition of the armorial of [Edward IV of England; 1461] based on a set of photographs sourced from the «American Branch» of «The Richard III Society». The rows of shields and banners have been numbered from row 1 to row 27.

---

Classification: PDF, Kingdom of England, House of York and Personal.

Bearer: Edward IV of England.

Banner quarterly of sixteen: 1, 6, 11, and 16 Azure, three fleurs de lis Or; 2, 5, 12, and 15 Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure; 3, 8, 9, and 14 Gules, a castle triple towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable; 4, 7, 10, and 13 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules, crowned Or.

Pendón cuartelado de dieciseis: 1^o, 6^o, 11^o y 16^o de azur, tres flores de lis de oro; 2^o, 5^o, 12^o y 15^o de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur; 3^o, 8^o, 9^o y 14^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 4^o, 7^o, 10^o y 13^o de plata, un león rampante de púrpura, armado y lampasado de gules, coronado de oro.

Banner interpreted by me as follows: its shape preserves the 5x6 proportions of a shield; the field is enamelled with flat tinctures Gules and Azure; the castles, fleurs-de-lis, and leopards are outlined in Sable; but the lions are outlined in their field; and the finish of the banner is watercoloured.

I have interpreted it from a simplification of the banner appearing in [Edward IV of England; 1461; row 27, 1^st column, final banner], which reflects Edward IV’s aspirations to the throne of Castile and León. In that armorial, this banner is held by a «White Lion of March», which was the personal badge of Edward IV.

---

Blazon keywords: Quarterly, Azure, Or, Three, Fleur de lis, Ordered, Gules, Leopard, Armed, Langued, In pale, Sable, One, Castle, Port and windows, Masoned, Argent, Purpure, Lion, Rampant and Crowned.

Style keywords: Rectangular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable, Outlined in the field tincture and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Flag, Banner of arms, Kingdom of England and House of York.

Bearer: Edward IV of England.

Banner quarterly of sixteen: 1, 6, 11, and 16 Azure, three fleurs de lis Or; 2, 5, 12, and 15 Gules, three lions, passant, guardant, in pale Or, armed and langued Azure; 3, 8, 9, and 14 Gules, a castle triple towered Or, port and windows Azure, masoned Sable; 4, 7, 10, and 13 Argent, a lion rampant Purpure, armed and langued Gules, crowned Or; an inescutcheon Azure, three crowns in bend, bendwise Or.

Pendón cuartelado de dieciseis: 1^o, 6^o, 11^o y 16^o de azur, tres flores de lis de oro; 2^o, 5^o, 12^o y 15^o de gules, tres leopardos en palo de oro, armados y lampasados de azur; 3^o, 8^o, 9^o y 14^o de gules, un castillo de oro, aclarado de azur, mazonado de sable; 4^o, 7^o, 10^o y 13^o de plata, un león rampante de púrpura, armado y lampasado de gules, coronado de oro; un escuson de azur, tres coronas en banda, puestas en banda de oro.

Banner interpreted as follows: with the 5x6 proportions of a shield; the field, including that of the escutcheon, is enamelled with flat tinctures Gules and Azure; the crowns, castles, fleurs-de-lis, and leopards are outlined in Sable; except the lions, which are outlined in their field; and the whole composition is watercoloured.

In the armorial [Edward IV of England; 1461; row 27, 1^st column, final banner], these arms appear twice:

• At the beginning, in the equestrian portrait of Edward IV, on the caparison of his horse.
• In the final banner held by Edward IV’s personal badge, a «White Lion of March».

---

Blazon keywords: Quarterly, Azure, Or, Three, Fleur de lis, Ordered, Gules, Leopard, Armed, Langued, In pale, Sable, One, Castle, Port and windows, Masoned, Argent, Purpure, Lion, Rampant, Crowned, Inescutcheon, Crown, In bend and Bendwise.

Style keywords: Rectangular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable, Outlined in the field tincture and Watercolor.

Classification: Interpreted, Personal, Flag, Banner of arms, Kingdom of England and House of York.

Bearer: Edward IV of England.

Edward IV King of England and Lord of Ireland, «The Armorial of Edward IV», «The Edward IV Roll», armorial in the form of a roll about 6 meters long, created to celebrate the coronation of Edward IV as the first King of England from the House of York and illustrated, probably, by different artists, 1461.

---

The image illustrating this reference corresponds to the banner, which is number 27 in the 2^nd column, the final one of this armorial. This banner is held by a white deer, which was a personal badge of King Richard II of England, and also, two white deer were the supporters of his shield. The reason for the inclusion of this white deer might be to contribute to the legitimization of Edward IV as king.

It is notable that in row 25 of the 2^nd column of this armorial there is a banner with the arms of the shield of Castilla y León, probably because Edward IV, like his predecessors, claimed their throne. In this version of the shield of Castilla y León:

• The two gold castles, in the 1^st and 4^th quarters of gules, have three towers with the central one taller like the Castilian, but the twin side towers seem to be connected by the wall as in the English castle, [Valero de Bernabé, L.; 2009a; page 2] and [Valero de Bernabé, L.; 2009b; page 33], the wall has a door that is enameled in azure as in the Castilian.
• The two lions, in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters of silver, seem to be gold, therefore, of «metal on metal» and, furthermore, very different from the purple lion of Castilla y León, it could well be an error by the artist or a degradation of an original purple enamel to ochre, as explained in the pendón de Castilla y León.

This shield of Castilla y León also appears:

• On the banner in row 27 of the 1^st column of this armorial. In this banner, they are combined with the arms of England represented in this article, in a new quartered, under an escutcheon with the imaginary arms of «Brutus of Troy», the also imaginary founder and king of Britain.
• On the caparison of the horse that Edward IV rides in the portrait at the beginning of his armorial. This caparison is a reproduction of the previous banner in row 27 of the 1^st column that combined the arms of England with those of Castilla y León. The presence of these arms in this initial portrait of the armorial of Edward IV denotes the importance he gave to his aspirations to the crown of Castilla y León.

---

Bibliographical reference of century XV.

Author: Edward IV of England.

Bibliographic reference mentioned in the following articles:

• Banner of Castile and León
• Charles V of France
• Edward IV of England
• Edward IV, armorial for His coronation
• Edward IV, quartered con Castile and León
• Heraldica Nova
• Leonor de Aquitania
• Pendón con inescutcheon de Edward IV

External resources:

• Free Library: Edward.
• Free Library: Banners.
• The Edward IV Roll.
• Brutus of Troy.