Fleur-de-lis

This article is about the general heraldic charge. For the traditional coat of arms of France, with which the fleur-de-lis is often associated, see Coat of arms of France § History. For other uses, see Fleur-de-lis (disambiguation).

Fleur-de-lis
Arms of the Kings of France ("France Modern"), blazoned Azure, three fleurs-de-lis or

The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural fleurs-de-lis or fleurs-de-lys),[pron 1] is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, fleur and lis mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively). Most notably, the fleur-de-lis (⚜️) is depicted on the traditional coat of arms of France that was used from the High Middle Ages until the French Revolution in 1792, and then again in brief periods in the 19th century. This design still represents France and the House of Bourbon in the form of marshalling in the arms of Spain, Quebec, and Canada — for example.

Other European nations have also employed the symbol. The fleur-de-lis became "at one and the same time, religious, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in French heraldry.[4] The Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph are among saints often depicted with a lily.

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 are "prolonging the life of centuries-old insignia and emblems".[5]

The fleur-de-lis is represented in Unicode at U+269C ⚜ FLEUR-DE-LIS in the Miscellaneous Symbols block.

  1. ^ Dictionnaire de la Langue Française, Paris: Lexis, 1993
  2. ^ Petit Robert 1, Paris, 1990
  3. ^ "LIS : Définition de LIS". www.cnrtl.fr.
  4. ^ Pastoureau, Michel (1997). Heraldry: Its Origins and Meaning. New Horizons. Translated by Garvie, Francisca. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 98. ISBN 0-500-30074-7.
  5. ^ Michel Pastoureau, Heraldry: its origins and meaning, pp. 93–94


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