The White Falcon of Anne Boleyn

Matted Dimensions: 6 1/2 x 6 inches

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Around the time of Anne’s marriage to Henry she adopted a badge depicting a white falcon alighting on roses. In heraldry, it is commonly accepted that the falcon symbolizes “one who does not rest until the objective is achieved.”

The tree stump is a centuries-old royal badge. Apart from symbolizing Henry’s past barrenness that Anne would now remedy, it alluded to Henry’s place on the throne of England as the rightful heir to the medieval Plantagenets. The red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York represent Henry’s Lancastrian father, Henry of Richmond and his Yorkist mother, Elizabeth of York. With the advent of Anne, already pregnant, life would once more burst forth from the apparent barrenness of the Tudor stock. The imperial crown on Anne’s falcon alluded to Anne’s impending coronation and also to Henry’s claims that he had the powers of an emperor in his own kingdom and so was entitled to reject papal authority.