A rose, coloured red and white, had been adopted as a dynastic symbol by Henry VII who had seized the throne of England in 1485. It represented a union of the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions of the Plantagenet dynasty which had fought a series of civil wars for the control of the English throne before being succeeded by Henry. A red rose was a badge of the Lancastrians; A white rose was a badge of the Yorkists.