Which way up should a Yorkshire rose be? (From Gazette & Herald)

Which way up should a Yorkshire rose be?

WHEN it comes to taking pride in your county, there can be few places in England that inspire such strong feelings as our own fair Yorkshire.

And, of course, it is the white rose that symbolises the Broad Acres, acting as the historical antithesis to the red rose of dastardly Lancashire.

The ire of Ryedale's usually tranquil folk was aroused late last year when Sproxton farmer Andrew Wainwright was told by Ryedale District Council that flying the county flag breached planning regulations.

The outcry was such that the story received national media coverage and Yorkshire flags began to appear on poles across the region - indeed, R Yates and Sons, in Malton, completely sold out of flags.

But flying the Yorkshire rose may not be quite as simple as it first appears.

According to numerous indignant readers who have contacted the Gazette & Herald, one must ensure that the rose is the correct way up.

And don't underestimate the importance of this issue to many proud Tykes.

In January this year, a Yorkshire rose was flown at a new hotel in Harrogate. However, there was consternation among local people, not least those working for the local newspaper, who claimed that the rose was upside down. The embarrassed hotel staff were forced to take down the flag and reposition the rose to the locals' liking.

However, to complicate matters further, there are conflicting views as to which way up the rose should be.

It seems that you're either in the camp that says one petal of the rose should be uppermost, or you're of the school of thought that says the rose should be rotated from this position through 180 degrees so that a sepal is at the top of the flower, with a petal on either side.

The region's local authorities, police force and pro-Yorkshire organisations seem similarly at odds when it comes to the presentation of the county rose in their symbols and coats-of-arms.

You'll find that North Yorkshire's county council and police force, plus East Riding of Yorkshire Council, have plumped for the second of the options listed above - two petals uppermost.

On the other hand, the Yorkshire Society and the Yorkshire Ridings Society have both opted for the first of the above possibilities - one petal uppermost.

According to the Yorkshire Ridings Society website, meanwhile, the coats-of-arms of the ridings differ in the presentation of the rose - it's one petal uppermost for the North and West Ridings, but not for the East.

So what is the truth?

Well, the white rose is most traditionally associated with the Wars of the Roses, the white rose being the emblem of king Edward IV (1442-1483), of the House of York.

Edward was, in fact, known as 'the Rose' and also 'the Rose of Rouen', and one of his emblems was the white rose surrounded by the rays of the sun, known as the rose-en-soleil. Incidentally, this emblem has one petal uppermost.

According to A Complete Guide to Heraldry, by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, it is believed that the red and white roses were first adopted by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399), and his brother, Edmund, Duke of York (1341-1402).

However, history seems unwilling to yield any firm answers as to which way up the rose should be.

Dr Barrie Rhodes, of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, puts forward the theory that the matter hinges upon whether the rose is to be presented with or without colour.

If it is in colour, he says, the rose can have one petal uppermost, as there would be no need to distinguish the flower from the Lancastrian version.

However, says Barrie, if the rose is monochrome, it does need to be distinguished from the Lancashire rose, and, therefore, two petals should be uppermost, so that three of the five petals form a 'Y' for Yorkshire.

A telling contribution, however, comes from Richard Hayton in his internet-based presentation, The Tradition of the White Rose, on the website www.yorkshirehistory.com.

Having thoroughly researched the matter, he comes to a bold conclusion - it simply doesn't matter which way up the rose is presented.

Hayton points out that the fashion nowadays is to present the rose with one petal uppermost, on the grounds of symmetry.

However, he says, there is no evidence to suggest that one way of displaying the rose is more correct than another.

He adds: "The rose's depiction in heraldry is arbitrary and at the discretion of the artist, whichever seems to be the right way up cannot be the wrong way up.

"It is, at the end of the day, a matter of personal choice, which for such a demanding discipline as heraldry is uncommon."

For those of a liberal frame-of-mind, this is likely to be an attractive compromise - do as your taste dictates.

However, this is unlikely to be the case for those who are convinced that their way of doing things is correct.

What seems certain, though, is that, however firm a conclusion is drawn by researchers, the controversy will not simply go away.

The debate about the Yorkshire rose will continue to bloom.

What do you think? Write to The Editor, Gazette & Herald, PO Box 29, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN.

Updated: 11:20 Wednesday, June 23, 2004