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| The French were of course at the forefront of the heraldic story - heraldry itself is presumed to have had its origins in the area that today comprises northern France and Flanders. It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that, in common with other courtly culture, the French model of heraldry influenced that of other nations. The very language used to this day by heralds in the English-speaking world is predominantly medieval French. However, whereas in English the kings of arms were not only trusted by their monarch to set down and oversee most maters armorial, but were also entitled to grant arms on behalf of the sovereign, their French counterparts never had such a right. The granting of arms in France (as in other European powers) was the exclusive right of the monarch. | |||
| No other emblem has had such a lasting and turbulent career as the French Lily or Fleur-de-lys (plural: fleurs-de-lis) is a stylized lily (in French, fleur means flower, and lis means lily or iris) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in Heraldry. The love affair between French royalty and its fleur de lis predated heraldry, and the flower's adaptability and obvious beauty has ensured its survival despite the fall of its latter propagator, the royal house of Bourbon. It has managed to weather revolutions and republics, flowering again after each, and may still be seen in one form or another in many French civic arms. |
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