FLEUR-DE-LIS, an heraldic device. Concerning its origin the most diverse theories have been broached. According to an old tradition, it was first employed as an armorial bearing by Clovis I., and represents the lily presented by an angel to that monarch at his baptism, the three fleurs-de-lis of his shield being the sign of the Trinity. Newton {Display, p. 145) considers it to be the figure of a reed or flag in blossom, used instead of a sceptre at the proclamation of the Frankish kings. In the opinion of Chifflet, the device was first adopted by Louis VII. of France, surnamed le Jeune, in allusion to his name Louis Florus. Some, again, have held that it is the extremity of the francisque, a kind of javelin anciently used in France. An objection fatal to the above and other theories assigning to the fleur-de-lis a purely French origin is that it was early an ornament of the sceptres, seals, and robes, not only of the Merovingian, but of Greek, Roman, German, Spanish, and English kings, and was a symbol employed by many noble families in various parts of Europe in the 12th aud 13th centuries. It is stated to occur, very perfectly sculptured, in the head-dresses of Egyptian sphinxes {Notes and Queries, 2d ser., i. p. 226). Gioja of Amalphi is said by Moreri to have marked the north end of the needle of the mariner’s compass with a fleur-de-lis in honour of the king of Naples; but see Compass, vol. vi. pp. 225 and 227. Since the 12th century the fleur-de-lis, or “flower-de-luce” (Shakespeare), has been employed as the symbol of royalty in France.

See Heraldry ; Berry, Encyclopaedia Hcraldica, vol. i., 1828; Boutell, Heraldry, 1865: and Larousse, Dictionnaire Universel du XIX' Siècle, t. viii.