ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS. 



M5 



of a javelin. But an objection fatal to all these theories, 

 assigning it a purely French origin, is the fact that it 

 is found as 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 and 13th centuries.^ 



Boutell, in his ' Heraldry,' p. 149, further states that 

 " Mr. Planche supposes the origin of the ' fleur-de-lys,' 

 or ' fleur-de-luce,' to have been a rebus, signifying ' Flower 

 of Louis,'" and adds that "'Clovis' is the Frankish form 

 of the modern Louis." He states that this emblem 

 appears in early heraldry under the several modifications 

 of its typical form. 



Fig. 75. — Outline of an Iris flower. 



Fig. 76. — 'Fleur-de-lys' copied from 

 a brass shield in one of the shops 

 in Bond-street. 



Then on the shields of the city of Florence the same 

 emblem is conspicuous. There they call it ' II giglio 

 Fiorentino,' in allusion to the Florentine Iris, which is 

 indigenous on the hills around Florence. 



Indeed the outline of the Iris flower in certain positions, 



' These were the times of the Crusades. 



10 



