The Etymology of Fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis is one of the most recognisable heraldic devices in Europe, a stylised three-petalled flower long associated with the kings of France. The name is straightforward Old French: flor de lis, "flower of the lily", with both elements descended from Latin (flos, flower; līlium, lily). The flower itself, however, was probably an iris rather than a true lily; the iris pseudacorus, the yellow flag iris, grew abundantly along the river Lys (Lis) in Flanders and Picardy, and may have given its name twice — to the river and to the heraldic device. The Capetian kings of France adopted it as a royal emblem in the twelfth century, possibly under Louis VII; by the late thirteenth century the three-fleur-de-lys field azure (gold lilies on blue) was the established arms of France. The motif spread across European heraldry and ecclesiastical art, and remains in modern use from Quebec’s flag to the Boy Scouts logo.