
Double rose is a term used for a
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can b ...
in
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...
when it has not only five petals, but additionally five petals within the outer petals. It is in essence a combination of two roses, one on top of the other. A standard heraldic rose should not be depicted this way but has only the five outer petals.
An example of this
heraldic charge
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an ''escutcheon'' (shield). That may be a geometric design (sometimes called an ''ordinary'') or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object, building, or ot ...
is the
Tudor rose
The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor rose consists of ...
, which is (most usually) a ''double rose gules and argent, barbed and seeded proper'', but as it is so common in English heraldry it is often just blazoned as a "Tudor rose" or a "Tudor rose proper", for instance in the
coat of arms of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London.
In botany, a double rose is a
double-flowered
"Double-flowered" describes varieties of flowers with extra petals, often containing flowers within flowers. The double-flowered trait is often noted alongside the scientific name with the abbreviation ''fl. pl.'' (''flore pleno'', a Latin ablat ...
variety of the
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can b ...
, much like the heraldic double rose. These varieties go back to pre-heraldic times.
References
Heraldic charges
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