Fleur-de-Lis



French for "flower of the lily", the fleur-de-lis is a common symbol used in medieval heraldry, often to signify purity (in some cases, it was associated with the Virgin Mary).

The symbol was used in many countries, but is most notable with France, because of their common use of gold fleur-de-lis on royal blue backgrounds. It was used on their flags, coats of arms, and as Symbol Motif Clothing on the kings' royal robes and the queens' Pimped Out Dresses (as in the picture).

The actual french orthography is Fleur de lys.

In modern fiction, it's often a motif to refer to the grander styles of old. In Historical Romance, it's often used, sometimes correctly sometimes not, to prove that the Love Interest is actually hidden royalty or nobility.

May occasionally show up in particularly creative Wingding Eyes.

Note that in Anime and Manga the white lily motif refers to something else entirely.

See also Four Leaf Clover.

Anime and Manga

 * The Death Note anime gives Misa fleur-de-lis earrings, though they were crosses in the manga.
 * The fleur-de-lis is the symbol of Ashford Academy in Code Geass.

Literature

 * The call girl service in LA Confidential was called "Fleur-de-lis", with the slogan "Whatever You Desire".
 * An important plot point in The Three Musketeers is that Milady has her shoulder branded with a fleur-de-lis, which marks her as a convicted felon.
 * Used in The Da Vinci Code as the symbol of The Priory of Sion.
 * The name of a character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
 * In one Ciaphas Cain novel, a Battle Sister he meets has a Fleur de Lis tattoo on her forehead.

Live Action TV

 * In Moonlight, Mick's ex-wife Coraline had a Fleur-de-Lis on her shoulder. She told him it was the brand of a prostitute, but he later learned
 * The most recent CSI Miami Season Finale had a serial killer use a spraypainted one of these as the taunting clue to the next victim.

Music

 * Japanese Hip-hop group Dragon Ash have the fleur-de-lis as a symbol, and have several songs with lily imaginery. Even one of their albums is explicitly titled "Lily of the Valley"

Tabletope Games

 * Bretonnia of Warhammer Fantasy being pretty much a Fantasy Counterpart Culture, uses Fleur-de-Lis a lot.
 * In Warhammer 40000 it is a common symbol among sisters of battle, the female representatives of the local Church Militant.

Video Games

 * Some of the Castlevania games have this on the walls in some areas.
 * Kingdom Hearts uses this symbol as a motif, stylising both the Heartless and Nobody emblems after it. Also, it features on Sora's Valour Form, one of his Super Modes.
 * The Third Street Saints use it as their symbol.

Western Animation

 * In the My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic episode "The Cutie Pox", Apple Bloom develops a cutie mark shaped like this, causing her to speak French.
 * Later on, in "Sweet And Elite", there's a pony with three Fleur De Lis as her cutie mark. Her fan nickname is appropriately Fleur De Lis.

Real Life

 * Although the French Republic has never officially adopted this symbol, at least not since the monarchy ended, it's still used in Spain and Luxembourg due to their royalty being part of the Bourbon line.
 * It's a bit telling that, as emperor, Napoleon swapped that for gold eagles on a vermilion background.
 * And gold bees as his new dynastic symbol.
 * The bees thing stemmed from an archeological discovery: a very old French king's grave, with golden bees buried in it.
 * Many French cities' coats of arms feature gold fleurs-de-lys on blue in the chief, symbolizing their status as a "bonne ville" (good town), which dates back to the ancien régime.
 * The fleur-de-lis is a general symbol for the city of New Orleans. It's on the city flag, buses, trash cans, etc. Even the New Orleans Saints use it as the symbol on their helmets.
 * And since Hurricane Katrina, it's found as a tattoo on every other person you meet. It certainly saved at least a couple of local tattoo parlors in the aftermath.
 * It's also widely used in St. Louis, another city with a lot of French heritage.
 * Also used in Louisville, Kentucky, for the same reason. Noticing a pattern here?
 * Within Canada, the Fleur-de-lis symbolizes Quebec, as well as French-Canadian people across the country
 * The fleur-de-lis appears in the Canadian coat of arms in the shield, supporters (flag held by one supporter) and the compartment, all as a symbol of the French-Canadian with the one in the shield referring specifically to Quebec.
 * The province of Quebec uses the fleur-de-lis on their flag, coat of arms and license plates
 * Quebecois UFC welterweight fighter Georges Saint-Pierre has one tattooed on the back of his right calf.
 * The jersey for the former WHA/NHL hockey team Quebec Nordiques had a total of eight on the jerseys, to match the blue and white color scheme taken from the Quebec flag.
 * The symbol of the Boy Scouts and other scouting organizations in many countries. Scouting's World Crest is a silver fleur-de-lis surrounded by a rope tied at the bottom in a square knot, on a purple background.
 * The old flag and coat of arms of Bosnia. This is distinct from the flag and arms of the modern country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is different.
 * Pink Fleur de lys are one of the iconic symbols of the "Stade Français", one of the two Parisian rugby teams.
 * The French Foreign Legion, which was founded under King Louis Philippe, has as its symbol a seven-flamed grenade strongly resembling a fleur-de-lis.