"... is supposed to come" – indeed.
According to the (Daily) Mirror, "The origin of The Red Lion is frequently debated, with some believing it derived from John of Gaunt – a knight who died in 1399 ... [but] others say the name comes from Scottish King James VI – who went on to become James I of England, in 1603. When he arrived in London, he reportedly ordered that the emblem of the red lion of Scotland be displayed on all buildings of public importance – which included pubs and taverns."
However ... a website called Zythophile (a word that appears to have been made up for this purpose) dismisses both theories.
Zythophile tackles the James I theory first, concluding that "there's no evidence for it, it doesn't make sense historically and it's nonsense from a practical direction as well." As for the John of Gaunt theory: Gaunt was extremely unpopular in his lifetime, and "It is unimaginable that such an unpopular man should have had his badge on so many pubs." Not only that, but "John only had the right to the red lion of Leon" for 17 years - between 1371, when he married Constance of Castile (giving him a claim to the thrones of Castile and Leon; the symbol of the latter was a red lion) and 1388, when he gave up that claim in return for £100,000 (an unbelievably large sum of money in the 14th century) and a yearly pension.
So what, according to Zythophile, is the origin of all those Red Lion pub names?
It's simply that "the red lion is, in fact, one of the commonest heraldic badges in England." If a publican wanted to show his loyalty to the local landowner by referring to that person's coat of arms in the name of his hostelry, there was a fair chance that it would be a red lion.
A comment on Zythophile's article (from one Elaine Saunders, who has written an e-book entitled A Book About Pub Names) adds that following Henry VIII's break from the Roman Catholic church and the dissolution of the monasteries, church lands were sold off to the highest bidder, resulting in a new landed gentry. At the same time, the names of many pubs were changed to avoid Catholic symbolism, and often the choice was to show loyalty either to the Crown or the local landowner. This is how names such as The Crown and The King's Head came to proliferate, as well as The Red Lion (and all those other lions, horses, etc.).
Ms. Saunders admits to having been guilty of some "unthought-out nonsense" herself at times, but in her defence she quotes ("verbatim") a question asked on University Challenge on 1 April 2008: "Which common pub name originally denoted the arms of John of Gaunt and, after 1603, that of the Stuart monarch?"
(I couldn't comment on whether or not the inclusion of that exact date tells us anything.)
According to another comment on the Zythophile article (from someone called Ed), The Red Lion is a pun originating in the French language. The French for "red lion" (explains Ed) is lion d'or. This sounds like the French lit; on dort ('bed; one sleeps'). In other words: we have beds here; you can sleep here.
Readers of this website will know what's coming next. That play on words (as Zythophile pointed out) may explain where all the Golden Lions came from, but not the Red Lions.
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