Tudor Rose

See this design on t-shirts.

For thirty years, the War of the Roses raged across England between the House of Lancaster, represented by the red rose, and the House of York, represented by the white rose. When Henry Tudor, a member of the House of Lancaster, defeated Richard III to become King Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York, uniting the two houses and founding the Tudor dynasty of English monarchs. The Tudor Rose represents the uniting of the two houses.

The poem used in this design is called "Of a rose, a lovely rose, Of a rose is al myn song," written circa 1350 by an anonymous author. The language is Middle English. This is the full text:

LESTENYT, lordynges, both elde and yinge,
How this rose began to sprynge;
Swych a rose to myn lykynge
In al this word ne knowe I non.

The Aungil came fro hevene tour,
To grete Marye with gret honour,
And seyde sche xuld bere the flour
That xulde breke the fyndes bond.

The flour sprong in heye Bedlem,
That is bothe bryht and schen:
The rose is Mary hevene qwyn,
Out of here bosum the blosme sprong.

The ferste braunche is ful of myht,
That sprang on Cyrstemesse nyht,
The sterre schon over Bedlem bryht
That is bothe brod and long.

The secunde braunche sprong to helle,
The fendys power doun to felle:
Therein myht non sowle dwelle;
Blyssid be the time the rose sprong!

The thredde braunche is good and swote,
It sprang to hevene crop and rote,
Therein to dwellyn and ben our bote;
Every day it schewit in prystes hond.

Prey we to here with gret honour,
Che that bar the blyssid flowr,
Che be our helpe and our socour
And schyd us fro the fyndes bond.

Note the archaic words such as shen for beautiful and the use of x for sh.