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Why were the Wars of the Roses given that name?
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Wars of the Roses
Illustration depicting the Battle of Bosworth Field, with King Richard III on the white horse.
The Wars of the Roses, a series of dynastic civil wars fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York for the English throne, were named many years after the conflicts concluded.12
The name is derived from the supposed heraldic badges associated with the two contending parties: the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. This imagery is famously depicted in literature, such as in the garden scene of William Shakespeareās Henry VI, Part 1, where members of the rival houses choose roses of these respective colors to signify their allegiance.123