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Friday, January 23, 2009

“ Flower Of Louis "

Louis VII (ca. 1120-1180) was king of France from 1137 to 1180. He strengthened the authority of the royal court, went on the Second Crusade, and repelled the aggressions of Henry II of England.



Irises have a long and rich history. The Fleur-DE-Lis, a stylized representation of the iris, has a long history with French monarchy, beginning with Clovis the I a Frankish king whose empire birthed the French state. Legend claims that when Clovis became a Christian he dreamed of an angel who gave him an iris to commemorate the event. After his dream, Clovis adopted the iris as his emblem.
Fleur-De-Lis translates as “flower of Louis” and gained the name when Louis VII, who went on the Second French Crusade in 1147, used the emblem on his banner.

The Fleur-De-Lis is often used symbolically in art and is often seen as the terminal ends of the arms of the cross, which effectively leads us to the importance of the iris in Christian history. The reason the iris connects with Christian history is that the number three is what the iris is all about. It has three standards and three falls. Three is the number of completion according to Pythagoras and three is the number of the Trinity the center of the Christian faith. As a result, Christian art adopted the Fleur-De-Lis as a symbol.

Fleur-De-Lis translates as “flower of Louis” and gained the name when Louis VII, who went on the Second French Crusade in 1147, used the emblem on his banner.

BTW, this is the ceiling that Anne Boleyn gazed upon.

The fashionable Fluer De Lis had made it's trendy little self known in England, where it began to adorn it's castles, and fabrics.



Fleur-De-Lis translates as “flower of Louis” and gained the name when Louis VII, who went on the Second French Crusade in 1147, used the emblem on his banner.


The name, anglicized, means "lily flower", and the symbol is in fact a stylized Iris pseudacorus L.. It was adopted by King Philip I of France in the 11th century.

In case you were wondering; as a garden plant, irises moved quickly around the globe often in the path of conquest. Irises were some of the first ornamental plants that came to the New World. They were found on gardening lists for Virginia as early as the 1600’s and soon became the center of many public and private gardens because of their dependability.

Today The Fleur De Lis has become so common place it is virtually everywhere.
Personally, I do nor care for this counter stool with a Fleur De Lis on it's back.
May I use the word " tacky " ? ....over the top?, or commercial ?
It looks to me like it belongs to Gaston, from ' Beauty & The Beast '.

This is more tasteful.



Suggested reading :
http://www.sacred-texts.com/sro/rrm/rrm12.htm
http://plantsbulbs.suite101.com/article.cfm/irises_history_and_culture
www.ancientrootsresearch.com


( enlarge any picture for more info and a closer look )

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her Blog of her Adventures in Design

9 comments:

  1. Dear Renee....I read with great interest your post of "fleur de lis" facts and history! Fabulous! As you know, my blog, is named "fleur de lee" after me , Lee! But I had no idea what it was all about! I have been educated today and inspired....thanks so much, sweet Renee....GREAT POST! xoxo

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  2. You're goign to think i'm an idiot -but i never made the connection betwen fleur de lis and iris's!! How dumb am I? LOL -The iris has always been special to me, not only because it's so beautiful, but because it is my grandma's FAVORITE flower. Wonderful post! You learn something new everyday, so I guess i'm done for today ALREADY!

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  3. hi Renee! great post - i enjoyed learning about the fleur de lis! and thank you so very much for the nice comment you left me - you made my day :)

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  4. Renee-
    So much I did not know abot Fleur de Lis! Thanks for the education!

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  5. Hi Renee,

    The iris flower is quite probably the most wellknown symbol of armourship (dunno if this word exists :-)).
    Since I'm from Portugal,a country with a very rich history ( we type History), when looking at that symbol I can only think about battles and conquests. And how people would fight for a purpose (good or bad)together instead of shoving their heads in the sand and spreading indifference toward others.

    Have a nice week,

    José

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  6. jose,

    thanks , i like the attitude of your country-men.

    we as americans , need to pull our heads out of the sand !

    thank you for commenting :)

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  7. jules,
    ( i love the name )

    i wish i had studied more history.

    as designers , we see the fleur de lis everywhere, so , i feel knowing the history of it makes it all the more interesting.

    thank you for commenting

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  8. love this!

    my earring loops have fleur de lis charms and I wear it with the Peace and Love jewelry necklace - the crown!!! It's my private joke about my love of all things French.

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  9. Absolutely fascinating. It is interesting that the English wanted to have anything to do with it considering it was of French origin! A-M xx

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About Renée Finberg

I have been in this business since the age of 22.

I love what I do and cannot imagine my life without Design.

Design Challenges are great.

And because of those challenges

I have imported fine antique pieces from Paris,

Designed and Manufactured Furniture,

Created Fantastic Window Treatments,

And solved all kinds of spatial & architectural issues

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If I can't find it, I create it.

My rooms would make excellent movie sets.

I am a visual, tactile and audio sensitive individual.

Creating is what I live for, not math, not spelling, not science.

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