Royal badges of England Wars of the Roses. The retrospective usage of the name for all Geoffrey's male descendants became popular in Tudor times probably encouraged by the added legitimacy it gave Richard's great-grandson, King Henry VIII of England. Badges came into general use by the reign of King Edward III. The king himself deployed many badges alluding to his lineage, as well as new personal devices. Royal badges of England In heraldry, the royal badges of England comprise the heraldic badges that were used by the monarchs of the Kingdom of England. Heraldic badges are distinctive to a person or family, similar to
Richard III of England in England. The anonymous play "The True Tragedy of Richard III" (c. 1590), performed in the same decade as Shakespeare's work, was probably an influence on Shakespeare. Neither of the two plays places any emphasis on Richard's physical appearance, though the "True Tragedy" briefly mentions that he is "A man ill shaped, crooked backed, lame armed" adding that he is "valiantly minded, but tyrannous in authority". Both portray him as a man motivated by personal ambition, who uses everyone around him to get his way. Ben Jonson is also known to have written a play "Richard Crookback" in 1602, but