The following list was found initially at http://www.livinghistory.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17408#p242342 (written in 2009), but since then I have found it elsewhere, so I do not know exactly whose work it is. I can only say it’s not mine. (NB: I now know that the list was originally compiled by Barry Slemmings and appeared in Lance and Longbow Society’s journal Hobilar. Please see his comment below.)
Edward Neville, Lord Abergavenny [d.1476] – green and white
William Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel [d.1487] – red and white
John Touchet, Lord Audley [d.1490] – yellow and red
John, Viscount Beaumont [d.1460] – white
William, 7th Lord Berkeley [active until at least 1483] – red
John Bouchier, Lord Berners [d.1474] – yellow and green
Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham [d.1460] – black and red (also Henry Stafford d. of Buckingham, d.1483).
Sir Thomas Burgh/Borough of Gainsborough [d.1496] – blue
George, Duke of Clarence [d.1478] – murrey and blue
Thomas, Lord Clifford [d.1455] – white
Brooke, Lord Cobham [Edward d. 1464, John d. 1515] – black and red
Sir Marmaduke Constable [d. 1518] – red
Sir John Conyers [d.1490?] – white
Sir Richard Croft [d.1509] – white and blue
Randolf/Ranulph Lord Dacre of Gilsland [d.1461] – four stripes barry yellow and blue
Sir Richard Fiennes, Lord Dacre of the South [d.1483] – white
Thomas Courtney, Earl of Devon [1st, d.1458, 2nd d.1461] – red
Digby family – blue
Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset [d.1501] – white and dark red [murrey] (also known as 3rd Lord Grey, 8th Lord Ferrers, Earl of Huntingdon in 1471, Marquis of Dorset in 1475)
Edward, Earl of March/Edward IV [d.1483] – murrey and blue
Edward, Prince of Wales [d.1471] – red and black
Henry Bouchier, Earl of Essex [1st d.1483, 2nd d.1529] – black and green
Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter [d.1475] – white and red
William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, Earl of Kent [d.1463] – white and blue
Walter Devereaux, 7th Baron Ferrers [d.1485] – white and red Sir Edward Grey, 2nd Lord Grey, 7th Lord Ferrers of Groby [d.1461] – green
Sir John Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter [d.1461] – blue
William Bourchier, Lord Fitzwaurin or Fitz-Warine [still active 1469] – white and red [?]
Henry Lord Grey of Codnor [d.1496] – red and green
Edmund, Lord Grey of Ruthin and Earl of Kent in 1465 [d.1490] – red
Sir James Harrington [d.after 1497] – black [?]
William, Lord Hastings [d.1483] – dark red [or purple] and blue
Henry VI [d.1471] – white and blue
Henry VII – white and green
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke [d.1469] – blue and red
John Howard, Duke of Norfolk [d.1485] – red Thomas Howard [d.1524] – red and white (NB: Please note the comment from Barry Slemmings below concerning the colours of John Howard and his son Thomas)
Thomas Talbot, Viscount Lisle or L’Isle [d.1470] – blue
Robert, 3rd Lord Hungerford and Lord Molynes [d.1464] – red and green
Francis, Viscount Lovell [died after 1487?] – blue and yellow
Thomas Fitzalan, Lord Maltravers, 12th Earl of Arundel in 1487 [d.1524] – black
John Neville, Lord Montague, earl of Northumberland 1464-1470 [d.1471] – red and black
Walter Blount, Lord Mountjoy – blue John Neville 2nd Earl of Westmoreland [d.1461] – black and red
John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk [Ist d.1461, 2nd d.1476] – blue and red
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland [2nd earl d.1455, 3rd earl d.1461, 4th earl d.1489] – red and black
John De Vere, Earl of Oxford [Ist d. 1462, 2nd d. 1512] – orange or orange tawney
John Paston [d.1479] – red
Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke [d.1495] – white and green
Edward Poynings [active in 1485] – red
Richard of Gloucester/Richard III [d.1485] – murrey and blue
Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers and Lord Scales [d.1483] – green [but noted as blue and tawney at a tournament of 1478]
Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers [d.1491] – green
Thomas, Lord Roos [d.1464] – blue and yellow
Edmund, Earl of Rutland [d.1460] – murrey and blue
Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, 2nd Earl of Westmoreland, [d.1460] – red and black
John, Lord Scrope of Bolton [d. 1498] – white
John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury [1st d. 1460, 2nd d. 1473] – red and black
Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset [d.1464] – white and blue
Thomas, Lord Stanley later Earl of Derby [d.1504] – orange tawney and green
William Stanley [d.1495] – red
John De La Pole, Duke of Suffolk [d.1491] – blue and yellow
Humphrey Talbot [active until at least 1483] – black and white
Rhys Ap Thomas ‘The Raven’ [active until at least 1485] – white
Richard Tunstall [d.1491] – black and white [?]
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick [d.1471] – red
Lionel, 6th Lord Welles [d.1461] – black and red?
John, Lord Wenlock [d.1471] – white
Henry Willoughby – blue
Robert, Lord Willoughby [d.1501] – red and white
Richard, Duke of York [d.1460]- blue and white
John, Lord Zouche [d.1526] – black and murrey [murrey and purple were often confused]
Very useful. Thank you.
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List was very good thanks , could be improved if it stated Lancastrian or Yorkist.
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sighthound6 is dead right – the idea of Lancastrian and Yorkist sides is really tricky. Warwick, Devon, Clarence, Rivers/Woodville, Northumberland, Somerset, Stanley, Cheyne, Brampton, Margaret Beaufort, Roos, Buckingham, the list goes on… all at some point pledged loyalty to a leader or affinity that they had previously opposed.
And of course before 1460, if such terminology existed, it is hard to imagine York, Warwick and Salisbury professing to be anything other than a ‘Lancastrian’ as they publicly and repeatedly reminded people that they were fighting to protect the Lancastrian king against the evil counsel of the likes of Somerset and Margaret of Anjou.
By 1484, we have a really good debate with students as to whether Henry Tudor represented a Lancastrian cause or (controversially) a Yorkist cause, seeing as virtually all of his followers (those who weren’t hired French mercenaries) were Yorkists who had been fiercely loyal to Edward IV but had rebelled against Richard III in 1483 (the earl of Oxford, who led Henry’s vanguard at Bosworth) is one of the few remaining ‘Lancastrians’ worth the name by then). Margaret of York (Edward IV’s sister) actively plotted to support rebellions to remove Henry, despite his queen being her own Yorkist niece.
I just tell students to remember that this is Game of Thrones and not a game of football 😉
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Problem with that is that not a few changed sides. Lord Audley is a good example.
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This might help https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2018/09/war-of-roses-livery-colours-database.html
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very helpful maybe a time frame may help with the switching sides
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If you are interested in people who switched sides try the Poleaxed sourcebooks which list who fought where and for whom – https://www.vexillia.com/common/shop_books.html#t-1
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Just to let you know, the above list was originally compiled by myself and was published in the Lance and Longbow Society’s journal Hobilar. I can recognise it as mine as it contains my comments and a few errors. For example I wrongly quoted the York sons as ‘murrey and blue’ when it was, of course, blue and murrey. A new list is in the process of being put together and if you email me I will let you have the longer and revised copy when it appears in Hobilar. A credit would be appreciated.
Barry Slemmings
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Hi Barry. I’m delighted to credit you with compiling the above list. Thank you for letting me know. It’s always good to be able to mention the original author. I’ve added a note to the text. If there’s anything else you wish me to add, please let me know.
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Bless you for the above. Further information will be passed as and when it is available. However I can add that a query needs to be put against John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. In his book “Richard III’s Beloved Cousyn” author John Ashdown-Hill make a persuasive case for Howard’s livery being BLACK. He notes several gifts of rich cloth to Howard in his stated livery of ‘black’. His standard is normally noted as red with a white lion upon it and it is the colour of the lords’ standards which NORMALLY dictates their retainers’ livery jackets. I have rationalised this as his immediate household wore black (possibly in mourning for his first wife) but the wider retainers PROBABLY wore the red shown the standard. This is partly confirmed as the Pastons, tenants of the Howards, also wore red.
Be aware that some flag manufacturers have misread a popular source namely Standards, Badges and Livery Colours of the WOTR by McGill and Jones, published by the Lance and Longbow Society.
Page 39 (entry 60) accurately describes Howard’s standard as gules (red) with the white lion upon it. It then cross-refs to his son’s illustrated standard of a white lion on red AND white. What you are supposed to read is that the father’s standard was all red but similar in design to the son’s. Unfortunately at least one flag manufacturer has misread this and has just copied the son’s red and white and is advertising it as ‘Norfolk’s’ when it is actually Sir Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey.
Note that Osprey on the Wars of the Roses (plate G) shows the Howard Duke of Norfolk correctly. His all red standard is shown top of the page.
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You DO know your stuff, Barry. I have inserted a note in the list, beside the John and Thomas Howard entry, drawing attention to your comment. Thank you.
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Thanks for this. I am compiling information to update my DBA War of the Roses armies.
Is there any information on how the livery colours were depicted on coats etc?
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What you seek is here – https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2018/12/war-of-roses-livery-colours.html
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The diagram here may help – https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2018/12/war-of-roses-livery-colours.html
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Thanks for the link. Very useful and seems to back my ideas.
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Hello Howard. I’m afraid that I simply found the list, and that was all. I have no further information, but I do hope you manage to discover what you seek.
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Thanks for your quick reply. All my research has come up pretty blank when it comes to how the colours were arranged on the coats.
But sometime ago a chap I knew studied medieval history and made the observation that during the medieval period opposites were the taste. This can be seen in art, heraldry and architecture. So I am using this as a base and thinking a livery of blue/white could have half the coat blue and half white or blue torso and white sleeves.
I think I fancy the former as it would be more visually striking in battle.
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I hadn’t thought of presenting colours in the latter way, but agree that it would have been more striking. And more and instantly identifiable in the heat of battle, where lower parts of the torso would be more likely hidden from view in the scrum.
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