Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis (also spelled fleur-de-lys; plural fleurs-de-lis or -lys; an archaic spelling is fleur-de-luce) is used in heraldry, where it is particularly associated with the French monarchy (see King of France). The fleur-de-lis remains an unofficial symbol of France (along with the bees and the Napoleonic eagle), but has not been used as an official symbol by the various French republics. It is also used by various Scout organizations worldwide as part of their logo.
Origins
The name translates into English as "lily flower", and the symbol is in fact a stylized Iris pseudacorus L. It was adopted by King Philip I of France in the 11th century. His grandson Louis VII was the first to adopt the Azure semé-de-lys Or (a blue shield with a tight pattern of small golden fleur-de-lis) as his badge, and this came to be so closely associated with his country that it is now known as "France Ancient". Three gold flowers on a blue background ("France Modern") dates to 1376 and Charles V of France.
The French monarchy first adopted the fleur-de-lis as a baptismal symbol of purity on the conversion of the Frankish King Clovis I to the Christian religion in 493. [1] To further enhance its mystique, a legend eventually sprang up that a vial of oil descended from heaven to anoint and sanctify Clovis as King. The thus "anointed" Kings of France later maintained that their authority was directly from God, without the mediation of either the Emperor or the Pope. Other legends claim that the lily itself appeared at the baptismal ceremony as a gift of blessing from an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Catholic Church later endorsed the legend by associating Mary with the symbol.
Some historians of heraldry have claimed that the fleur-de-lis actually originated as a stylized bee, or a stylized frog. Other explanations include the shape having been developed from the image of a dove descending, which is the symbol of the Holy Ghost. It has also been interpreted as an ornate spearhead or sceptre.[2] Regardless of its origin, it is a very ancient design which has been found in many cultures, usually as an emblem associated with royalty. [3]
It symbolized the sacred origin of the Merovingian dynasty and then became a symbol of the entire Christian Frankish Kingdoms. The fleur-de-lis was also the symbol of the house of Kotromanić, a ruling house in Christian Bosnia.(13th century until mid 15th century)
By the 13th and 14th centuries, the three petals of the lily of France were being described by writers as symbols of faith, wisdom and chivalry. As in Ireland, they also came to be seen as symbols of the Holy Trinity. By the 14th century, the fleur-de-lis had become so closely associated with the rule of France that the English king Edward III quartered his coat of arms with France Ancient in order to emphasize his claim on the French the crown. This quartering was changed to France Modern in the early 1400s. The fleur-de-lis was not removed until 1801, when George III gave up his formal claim to the French throne.
- The treasured fleur-de-luce he claims
- To wreathe his shield, since royal James
- Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto Fourth, VIII
- from The Complete Works of Sir Walter Scott, Volume 1 of 7, Conner and Cooke, New York, 1833
Fleurs-de-lis feature prominently in the Crown Jewels of both Scotland and England etc, and have been heraldic devices of those monarchs since very early on. The tressure flory-counterflory is a prominent part of the design of the Scottish royal arms and flag since James I of Scotland. In English heraldry, the fleur-de-lis is the cadency mark of difference of the sixth son.
Modern usage
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 tri-colour flag 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, where a flag actually influenced the course of history, after the end of the French Second Empire, Henri, Comte de Chambord, was offered the Throne as King of France, but he would agree only on condition that the French give up the Tricolor and restore the royal standard with the fleur-de-lis; however, his condition was rejected and France became a republic.
The "France modern" fleur-de-lis pattern was also on the coat of arms of the old French province of Île-de-France (as for instance as a badge on the uniforms of the local gendarmerie legion).
In 1948, a new flag of Quebec was introduced that incorporated the fleur-de-lis. Prior to this, the Union Jack had flown over Quebec's legislature.
The fleur-de-lis is a popular symbol of New Orleans, USA, used in much New Orleans art and architecture. A black fleur-de-lis is also the logo of the New Orleans Saints football team.
The fleur-de-lis is also a symbol of the city of St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The flag of the city marks the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois rivers' convergence with a fleur-de-lis, representing St. Louis. This shared iconography among Quebec, St. Louis, and New Orleans relates to the fact that all three share a history of French heritage and/or French colonialism.
Other notable places that use the symbol informally or as part of their heraldic arms are: Quebec; Canada; Spain (ruled by the Bourbons); Augsburg, Germany; Florence, Italy (whose lis-sporting currency fiorino influenced the Dutch gulden and Hungarian forint); Laško, Slovenia; the Fuggers medieval banking family; the House of Lancaster; Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina (who call it Lillicum Bosniacum); New Orleans, Louisiana; Detroit, Michigan; Louisville, Kentucky; Odense, Denmark; Wiesbaden, Germany; Lille, France and St. Louis, Missouri.
The fleur-de-lis is the major element in the logo of most Scouting organizations. In that usage, it is considered to represent the outdoors, which is a major theme in Scouting.[4] The symbol is also often used on a compass rose to mark the north direction. Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the scouting movement, explained that the scouts adopted the fleur-de-lis symbol from its use in the compass rose because it "points in the right direction (and upwards) turning neither to the right nor left, since these lead backward again". In addition, The Madison Scouts (which has distant relations with the Boy Scouts of America) is a Drum and Bugle Corps group which parades its symbol; the fleur-de-lis.
The fleur-de-lis is used in modern Israel as a religious and a scout symbol located in the middle or on top of the Star of David, in Christian/Islamic symbolism, the Star of Bethlehem. The fleur-de-lis is also used on top of the Crown and combined with the Menorah.
Symbolism in religion and art
An ancient legend tells how the lily sprang from the tears shed by Eve as she left the Garden of Eden, just as the lily of the valley (a botanically unrelated flower) was said to have grown from the tears of Mary, the mother of Jesus at the foot of the Cross. As a symbol of purity it was accordingly readily adopted by the Church to associate the Virgin Mary's sanctity with events of special significance.
Michel Pastoureau, a French historian, says that until the end of the 12th century Jesus Christ was sometimes represented amidst stylised lilies or fleurons. [5]
As a trinity symbol it represent the ressurection from the son to the father in the holy spirit, here represented by the fleur de lys as a "tree of life" "rising from the grave" ascending to the "Father in Heaven".
Gradually, such imagery came to include Marian symbolism, and became associated with the Song of Solomon's "lily among thorns" ("lilium inter spinas"), as well as with other scripture and religious literature in which the lily is presented as a symbol of purity, virginity and chastity and represent life (Lily) amongs thorns (death) (ref:crown of thorn) and became because of this in iconography and by the Church a favorite in the Glorification/Assumption of Mary, for example, the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
The fleur de lys has a descending meaning in the dove assosiation (like Jesus/Mary (The Trinity) "coming down from heaven to"...)
The three "petals" of the fleur-de-lis explain its association with the Holy Trinity. The Angel Gabriel is often pictured with a lily in his hand in paintings of the Annunciation.
Other meanings
The United States Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team performs a signature maneuver they call the "fleur-de-lis." In this maneuver, six jet aircraft pull gracefully to a straight vertical direction while trailing white smoke; the aircraft then break formation and perform partial loops in six different compass directions to end the show.
The Fleur-de-lys is used in (on top of) the compass rose in combination with flights and boats as a maneuver/measure symbol pointing up to the north.
Brazilian author Aluísio Azevedo wrote a play entitled Fleur-de-lis.
The Fleur-de-Lys is also a name of a character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.
The Fleur-de-Lys, as well as a Key and an Owl, are the symbols that have been adopted by the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity (now informally called a sorority). The Fleur-de-Lis is prominent on the Kappa Kappa Gamma crest and is often used to identify and differentiate Kappa Kappa Gamma from other sororities.
See also
External links
References
- ^ Lewis, Philippa & Darley, Gillian (1986) Dictionary of Ornament, NY, Pantheon
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary and others
- ^ Michel Pastoureau, Traité d'Héraldique (1979) (Treatise on Heraldry)
- ^ Walton, Mike The World Crest Badge...(and why do we *all* wear it?). 1999.
- ^ Michel Pastoureau, Traité d'Héraldique (1979) (Treatise on Heraldry)