@ all members:
The only arms which are definitively attributed to Sir John Howard, Lord Howard, Knight of the Garter, later Duke of Norfolk are the arms of his Garter Stall Plate which still stands in George Chapel at Windsor Castle, the home of the Knights of the Garter.
In the past I think I have also seen an illustration of a seal with these arms as well as 1 & 4 Howard, 2 & 3 De Brotherton.
These were the only arms he was legally allowed to strip until Anne Mowbray's death in 1478.
His mother was Margaret of Mowbray but she was not an heiress so the Howards did not spread their arms with them.
Mowbray only From Brotherton.
On the death of Anne de Mowbray, daughter of John De Mowbray Duke of Norfolk around 1481 who had married Richard Duke of York, son of Edward IV around 1475, when she was 3 years old.
John De Mowbray died in 1476 and, as in the marriage contract, title and lands went to Richard of York who held him until 1483 when Richard III usurped the throne.
Prior to this date he was not entitled to the arms shared with Mowbray, only when Richard III presented the title of Duke of Norfolk to John Howard as the rightful heir and as a reward for supporting Richard III in his seizure of the throne of Edward V.
Before that, he would not have dared to wear these arms when Edward IV was alive, as he would have declared that he was the rightful Duke of Norfolk, an act of treason even though he was technically entitled to the title of De Mowbray's main surviving heir through his mother Margaret De Mowbray.
What arms did he carry in Bosworth?
He had the right to use weapons 1 & 4 Howard, 2 De Brotherton, 3, Mowbray.
But there are no contemporary documents that show that he actually used these arms at Bosworth.
The "long" standards been used in combat?
Unlikely except on horseback as they were probably up to 4 meters or more in length.
I suspect that badge (Livery banners)were more than likely the norm of the day during the Wars of the Roses.
This is my opinion, but am I right or wrong?
Paskal