Everything about Fleur-de-lis totally explained
The
fleur-de-lys (or
fleur-de-lis, plural: fleurs-de-lis; translated from French as "lily flower") is a stylized design of either an
iris or a
lily and is used both decoratively and symbolically. It may be purely ornamental or it may be "at one and the same time political,
dynastic, artistic,
emblematic and symbolic", especially in
heraldry. While it has appeared on countless European
coats of arms and flags over the centuries, the fleur-de-lis is particularly associated with the French
monarchy on a historical context, and nowadays with the Spanish monarchy as the only remaining monarchs of the
House of Bourbon (
Anjou Bourbon). It is an enduring symbol of
France, but, being regarded most notably as the emblem of the monarchy, wasn't adopted officially by any of the
French republics. On the contrary, as Spain is a constitutional monarchy, the fleur-de-lis symbol is associated with the Spanish King Juan Carlos I (of French dynasty origin) and the Kingdom of Spain. In
North America, the fleur-de-lis is often associated with areas formerly settled by France, such as
Quebec and
Louisiana and with the
Francophones in other Canadian provinces. It is also the emblem of the
Swiss Municipality of
Schlieren, Zürich.
It appears on military insignia and the
logos of many different organizations, and during the 20th century it was adopted by various
Scouting organizations worldwide for their
badges. Architects and designers may use it alone or as a repeated
motif in a wide range of contexts, from
ironwork to bookbinding. As a religious symbol it may represent the
Holy Trinity, or be an
iconographic attribute of the archangel
Gabriel, notably in representations of the
Annunciation. It is also associated with the
Virgin Mary.
Since Hurricane Katrina, the fleur de lis has become the unifying (and somewhat defiant) symbol for citizens of New Orleans. The symbol has always been a presence in Louisiana but has become ubiquitous of late. Bearing the symbol on houses, clothing, jewelry, cars, etc. is widely viewed as a symbol of the rebuilding of the city and as a reminder of home.
The symbol is also often used on a
compass rose to mark the
north direction, a tradition started by
Flavio Gioja.
It is represented in
Unicode at U+269C (⚜).
Earliest usage
Fleur-de-lis is literally translated from French as "lily flower", and is widely thought to be a stylized version of the species
Iris pseudacorus.
Decorative ornaments that resemble the fleur-de-lis have appeared in the artwork from the earliest
civilizations.
"The use for ornamental or symbolic purposes of the stylised flower usually called fleur de lis is common to all eras and all civilizations. It is an essentially graphic theme found on Mesopotamian cylinders, Egyptian bas-reliefs, Mycenean potteries, Sassanid textiles, Gaulish coins, Mameluk coins, Indonesian clothes, Japanese emblems and Dogon totems. The many writers who have discussed the topic agree that it has little to do graphically with the lily, but disagree on whether it derives from the iris, the broom, the lotus or the furze, or whether it represents a trident, an arrowhead, a double axe, or even a dove or a pigeon. It is in our opinion a problem of little importance. The essential point is that it's a very stylised figure, probably a flower, that has been used as an ornament or an emblem by almost all civilizations of the old and new worlds."
It has consistently been used as a royal emblem, though different cultures have interpreted its meaning in varying ways.
Gaulish coins show the first Western designs which look similar to modern fleurs-de-lis. In the East it was found on the gold helmet of a Scythian king uncovered at the Ak-Burun kurgan. This helmet now resides in St. Petersburg's Ermitage museum.
Royal symbol
King Clovis I
According to legend, the French monarchy first adopted the fleur-de-lis for their royal
coat of arms as a symbol of purity on the conversion of the
Frankish King Clovis I to the Christian religion in 493. The story takes various forms, many of which relate to Clovis' conversion, and support the claim of the
anointed Kings of France that their authority came directly from
God, without the mediation of either the Emperor or the Pope.
Some versions of the legend enhance the mystique of royalty by describing a vial of oil sent from heaven to anoint and sanctify Clovis as king, perhaps brought by a
dove to
Saint Remigius. Another variation says a lily appeared at Clovis' baptismal ceremony as a gift of blessing from an apparition of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, who is often associated with the flower.
Clovis' Burgundian wife,
Clothilda, later to be Saint Clothilda, is usually significant in these stories. As well as her part in encouraging her husband to become a Christian, her presence helps emphasise the importance of
Burgundy's support for the monarch.
A story which places less emphasis on Christianity and the
divine right of the French kings tells of Clovis putting a flower in his helmet just before his victory at the
Battle of Vouillé, leading him to choose the fleur-de-lis as a royal symbol.
From Frankish to French kings
Through this connection to Clovis, the fleur-de-lis has been taken to symbolize all the
Christian Frankish kings, most famously
Charlemagne. In the 14th century French writers asserted that the monarchy of France, which developed from the
Kingdom of the West Franks, could trace its heritage back to the divine gift of royal arms received by Clovis. This story has remained popular, even though scepticism started in the 17th century and modern scholarship has established that the fleur-de-lis was a religious symbol before it was a true heraldic symbol. Along with true lilies, it was associated with the
Virgin Mary, and in the 12th century
Louis VI and
Louis VII started to use the emblem, on sceptres for example, so connecting their rulership with this symbol of
saintliness. Louis VII ordered the use of fleur-de-lis clothing in his son
Philip's coronation in 1179, while the first visual evidence of clearly heraldic use dates from 1211: a
seal showing the future
Louis VIII and his shield strewn with the "flowers". Until the late 14th century the French royal
coat of arms was
Azure semé-de-lys Or (a blue shield "seeded" (
semé) with small golden fleurs-de-lis), but
Charles V of France changed the design from an all-over scattering to a group of three in about 1376. These two coats are known in
heraldic jargon as
France Ancient and
France Modern respectively.
In the reign of
King Louis IX (St. Louis) the three petals of the flower were said to represent faith, wisdom and chivalry, and to be a sign of divine favour bestowed on France. During the next century, the 14th, the tradition of Trinity symbolism was established in France, and then spread elsewhere.
In 1328, King
Edward III of England inherited a claim to the crown of France, and about 1340 he accordingly
quartered France Ancient with the
arms of the Kingdom of England. After the kings of France adopted
France Modern, the kings of England imitated them from about 1411. The monarchs of England (and later of Great Britain) continued to quarter the French arms until 1801, when
George III abandoned his formal claim to the French throne (see
English claims to the French throne).
King Charles VII ennobled
Joan of Arc's family on 29 December 1429 with an inheritable symbolic denomination. The Chamber of Accounts in France registered the family's designation to nobility on 20 January, 1430. The grant permitted the family to change their surname to du Lys.
France Modern remained the French royal standard, and with a white background was the French national flag until the
French Revolution, when it was replaced by the
tricolor of modern-day France. The fleur-de-lis was restored to the French flag in 1814, but replaced once again after the revolution against
Charles X of France in 1830. In a very strange turn of events after the end of the
French Second Empire, where a flag apparently influenced the course of history,
Henri, Comte de Chambord, was offered the throne as
King of
France, but he'd agree only on condition that the French give up the tricolor and bring back the white flag with fleurs-de-lis. His condition was rejected and France became a
republic.
France Modern was also on the
coat of arms of the old French
province of Île-de-France (for instance, as a badge on the uniforms of the local
gendarmerie).
Other European monarchs and rulers
Fleurs-de-lis feature prominently in the
Crown Jewels of England and
Scotland. In English heraldry, they're used in many different ways, and can be the
cadency mark of the sixth son.
The - (flowered border) has been a prominent part of the design of the Scottish royal arms and flag since
James I of Scotland.
The treasured fleur-de-luce he claims
To wreathe his shield, since royal James » –Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel
In
Florentine fleurs-de-lis, the
stamens are always posed between the
petals. This heraldic charge is often known as the Florentine lily to distinguish it from the conventional design. As an emblem of the city, it's therefore found in icons of the bishop
Zenobius. The currency of Florence, the
fiorino, was decorated with it, and it influenced the appearance and name of the
Hungarian forint and other
florins. Elsewhere in Italy, fleurs-de-lis have been used for some
papal crowns and coats of arms,
Farnese Dukes of Parma, and by some
doges of Venice.
The fleur-de-lis was also the symbol of the house of
Kotromanic, a ruling house in medieval Bosnia allegedly in recognition of the
Angevin, where the flower is thought of as a
Lilium bosniacum. It was used on the
Bosnia and Herzegovina flag between 1992 and 1998. Today, fleur-de-lis is a national symbol of
Bosniaks, one of three
Bosnian constitutive ethnic groups (other two being Serbs and Croats).
Other countries using the emblem heraldically include
Serbia and
Spain in recognition of the
Bourbons.
The heraldic fleur-de-lis is widespread: among the numerous cities which use it as a symbol are some whose names echo the word 'lily', for example,
Lille, France and Liljendahl,
Finland. This is called
canting arms in heraldic terminology. As a dynastic emblem it has also been very widely used: not only by noble families but also, for example, by the
Fuggers medieval banking family.
North America
Fleurs-de-lis crossed the
Atlantic along with Europeans going to the
New World, especially with French settlers. Their presence on North American flags and coats of arms usually recalls the involvement of French settlers in the history of the town or region concerend, and in some cases the persisting presence there of a population descended from such settlers.
The Fleur-de-lis appears on the flags of
Quebec and
Nova Scotia in Canada, and south of the border on that of
Detroit (originally a French name, though at present pronounced quite differently), New Orleans, and elsewhere. The
Acadiana region and various cities in southern
Louisiana, such as
Lafayette,
New Orleans and
Baton Rouge, also use the fleur-de-lis.
So do several places whose name came from one of the French King Louis: amongst them,
Louisville,
Kentucky and
St. Louis,
Missouri where the three-petalled symbol also denotes the convergence of three rivers (the
Mississippi,
Missouri and
Illinois).
Symbolism in religion and art
.]]
In the Middle Ages the symbols of lily and fleur-de-lis (
lis is
French for "lily") overlapped considerably in religious art.
Michel Pastoureau, the historian, says that until about 1300 they were found in depictions of
Jesus, but gradually they took on
Marian symbolism and were associated with the
Song of Solomon's "lily among thorns" (
lilium inter spinas), understood as a reference to Mary. Other scripture and religious literature in which the lily symbolizes purity and chastity also helped establish the flower as an
iconographic attribute of the Virgin.
The fleur could also draw its design from
Jewish tradition. The design is very similar to a
lulav, made with a
palm frond which sticks up straight and the branches of
willow and
myrtle trees, which are not as rigid.
In medieval England, from the mid-12th century, a noblewoman's seal often showed the lady with a fleur-de-lis, drawing on the Marian connotations of "female virtue and spirituality". Images of Mary holding the flower first appeared in the 11th century on coins issued by cathedrals dedicated to her, and next on the
seals of cathedral
chapters, starting with
Notre Dame de Paris in 1146. A standard portrayal was of Mary carrying the flower in her right hand, just as she's shown in that church's
Virgin of Paris statue (with lily), and in the centre of the
stained glass rose window (with fleur-de-lis sceptre) above its main entrance. The flowers may be "simple, sometimes garden lilies, sometimes genuine heraldic fleurs-de-lis". As attributes of the
Madonna, they're often seen in pictures of the
Annunciation, famously in those of
Botticelli and
Filippo Lippi. Lippi also uses both flowers in other related contexts: for instance, in his
Madonna in the Forest.
The three petals of the heraldic design reflect a widespread association with the
Holy Trinity, a tradition going back to 14th century France, added onto the earlier belief that they also represented faith, wisdom and chivalry.
"Flower of light" symbolism has sometimes been understood from the archaic variant
fleur-de-luce (see Latin
lux, luc- = "light"), but the
Oxford English Dictionary suggests this arose from the spelling, not from the
etymology.
Modern usage
» Also see North America section above.
Some modern usage of the fleur-de-lis reflects "the continuing presence of heraldry in everyday life", often intentionally, but also when users are not aware that they're "prolonging the life of centuries-old insignia and emblems".
Fleurs-de-lis feature on military badges like those of the
Israeli Intelligence Corps and the
First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force. They may be chosen for sports teams, especially when it echoes a local flag, as with the former
Quebec Nordiques NHL hockey team, the
Fiorentina soccer team, the
New Orleans Saints football team and the
New Orleans Hornets basketball team, and in coats of arms and logos for universities (like the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette and
Saint Louis University and
Washington University in Missouri), schools (in St. Peter, Minnesota) and companies (like the Royal Elastics shoe company). The
Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps have a fleur-de-lis as their official logo, with members and past members sporting exclusive fleur-de-lis tattoos. The
Lincolnshire, England flag has a fleur-de-lis in the middle. It is also one of the symbols of the national women's fraternity
Kappa Kappa Gamma, as well as the international coed service fraternity
Alpha Phi Omega.
The symbol may be used in less traditional ways. After
Hurricane Katrina many New Orleanians of varying ages and backgrounds were
tattooed with "one of its cultural emblems" as a "memorial" of the storm, according to a researcher at
Tulane University. The US Navy
Blue Angels have named an elegant looping flight demonstration manoeuvre after the flower as well, and there are even two surgical procedures called "after the fleur."
The Chevrolet Corvette also takes note of the fleur-de-lis and incorporated it into the original Corvette emblem. "Where did the fleur-de-lis come from? At the time, Chevrolet was conducting research on various emblem designs for the 1953 and 1954 passenger cars. They looked at the Louis Chevrolet family history in an attempt to discover a crest or some type of heraldry that they could utilize. Unfortunately, they came up empty, but they did realize that Chevrolet is a French name and the fleur-de-lis (flower of the lily) is a French symbol meaning peace and purity.
Symbol of Scouting
The fleur-de-lis is the main element in the logo of most
Scouting organizations, representing a major theme in Scouting: the outdoors and wilderness. The
World Crest of the
World Organization of the Scout Movement, has elements of which are used by most national Scout organizations. The symbol was chosen by Baden-Powell as it had been the arm-badge of those soldiers qualified as "Scouts" (reconnaissance specialists) when BP served in the British Army.
In literature
The symbol has featured in modern fiction on historical and mystical themes, as in the bestselling novel
The Da Vinci Code and other books discussing the
Priory of Sion. It recurs in French literature, where examples well-known in English translation include the fleur-de-lis character in the
Hunchback of Notre Dame by
Victor Hugo, and the reference in
Dumas' The Three Musketeers to the old custom of
branding a criminal with the sign. (
Fleurdeliser in French). In
Elizabethan English literature it's a standard name for an iris, a usage which lasted for centuries, but occasionally refers to lilies or other flowers. It also appeared in the novel
A Confederacy of Dunces by
John Kennedy Toole on a sign composed by the main character.
» The lilly, Ladie of the flowring field,
The Flowre-deluce, her louely Paramoure » :
Edmund Spenser,
Faerie Queene, 1590
Further Information
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