The Yale of Beaufort

The Yale is a mythical beast with characteristics of an antelope or goat, depending on the imagination of the artist and their desire to portray grace and elegance, or strength and determination. Strangely, it is said to have horns that can turn independently so in medieval illustrations it is often shown with horns pointing in different directions. The white and gold-spotted Yale of Beaufort has such horns along with the whiskers or ‘tushes’ of a boar.

The Yale of Beaufort was a symbol of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. The Yale of The Queen’s Beasts holds a shield with the blue and white quarters of Margaret’s arms but with a golden portcullis at the centre, a badge used by Henry VII. The portcullis is also part of the arms of Westminster City Council, which is home to Westminster Abbey where the coronation took place in 1953.