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fleur de lis - originsThe use of the fleur de lis for ornamental purposes is widespread in all eras and all civilisations. It is found on Mesopotamian cylinders, Egyptian bas-reliefs, Mycenean potteries, Sassanid textiles, Gaulish coins, Mameluk coins, Indonesian clothes, Japanese emblems and Dogon totems. It has been used as an ornament or an emblem by almost all civilisations of the old and new worlds. The oldest known examples of fleur de lis similar to those used in the Medieval Western world and in modern times can be found on Assyrian bas-reliefs from the third millenium BC. It is found on tiaras, necklaces, scepters, and seems already to play the role of royal attribute. Those found a little later in Crete, India and Egypt probably have a similar meaning. In numismatics, we find the fleur de lis on a few Greek coins and on several Roman coins from the Republic or the Empire and especially on Gaulish coins. While retaining its value as royal attribute, the fleur de lis acquires in the high Middle Ages a strong Christic meaning, stemming from (among others) the famous verse of the Song of Solomon (2:1): "ego flos campi et lilium convallium" many times repeated and commented from Saint Jerome to Saint Bernard. Therefore it is not rare, until the end of the 12th century, to see Christ represented amidst more or less stylised lilies or fleurons, whose design could also recall the Trinity of the Chrismon (Christ's monogram). Then, slowly, on this Christic content is added a Marial symbolic, linked to the development of the Cult of Mary, and to which the next verse of the Song of Solomon is related (2:2): "sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter lilias" as well as many parts of the Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church, where the lily is presented as symbol of purity, virginity and chastity. In iconography, the lily becomes a favorite attribute of the Virgin Mary and remains so until the 16th century. |