Fleur-de-Lis Tattoo Meaning
Royalty, purity, the Trinity, and the lily of kings.
The Fleur-de-Lis is the stylized lily of kings and the Virgin — the elegant three-petaled emblem that joins royal majesty and sacred purity, the flower of the Trinity and of French kingship, the design so refined it became pure symbol. To carry the Fleur-de-Lis is to carry royalty, purity, the Trinity, and the lily of kings — the Marian lily of purity, the heraldic flower of French royalty, the three petals of the Trinity, the noble form elevated beyond the flower into pure emblem.
The fleur-de-lis is deeply associated, in Christian tradition, with the Virgin Mary and with sacred purity. The lily is Mary's flower, the long-standing symbol of her purity, virginity, and grace — and the fleur-de-lis, the stylized lily, carries this Marian meaning. Its three petals, moreover, are understood to represent the Holy Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — so that the emblem joins the purity of the Virgin with the threefold mystery of God. In medieval Christian iconography the fleur-de-lis appears in scenes of the Annunciation (the lily held by the angel Gabriel or set beside Mary), beside Mary's throne, and as a sign of her holiness.
In French tradition especially, the Christian and the royal meanings of the fleur-de-lis became inseparable. The fleur-de-lis appears on the scepters and regalia of sacred kingship — the kingship that derived its authority from the divine — so that the same emblem signifies both the purity of the Virgin and the God-given right of the king. The Marian symbol and the royal symbol are one: the lily of Mary's purity is also the lily of the king crowned by God, the flower of heaven's grace marking the throne sanctioned by heaven. The fleur-de-lis thus binds together the sacred and the sovereign — the Trinity and the Virgin, divine purity and divine kingship — in a single elegant flower, the lily that belongs at once to the Mother of God and to the anointed king. The Christian fleur-de-lis is the Virgin's lily of purity and the three-petaled emblem of the Trinity, joined to sacred kingship. The Christian fleur-de-lis is the lily of the Virgin and the Trinity — associated with the Virgin Mary (the lily is her flower, the symbol of purity), its three petals representing the Trinity; in medieval iconography it appears in scenes of the Annunciation, beside Mary's throne, and on the scepters of sacred kingship that derived its authority from the divine — the royal symbol and the Marian symbol inseparable in French tradition, the lily of Mary's purity also the lily of the king crowned by God, binding the sacred and the sovereign (the Trinity, the Virgin, divine purity, and divine kingship) in a single elegant flower.
The fleur-de-lis (French: 'lily flower') is stylized to the point where its botanical origin is debated — it may represent the iris (Iris pseudacorus, the yellow flag iris common in French river valleys) rather than the lily; the Frankish king Clovis I is said to have adopted it after the iris guided him across a ford in the Rhine during a battle (c. 496 CE). The symbol appears in ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Indian art before its French adoption — the stylized lotus and the stylized iris both produce similar three-part forms. The Boy Scout fleur-de-lis (adopted by Robert Baden-Powell for the Scout movement, 1907 CE) represents the north point of a compass — forward, always. The fleur-de-lis as a branding symbol in New Orleans (the Saints logo, Louisiana state flag) and Quebec (provincial flag) demonstrates how thoroughly a symbol of royal authority has become a symbol of regional identity.
Fleur-de-Lis across cultures
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