The Yellow Flag 



his banner by three Irises, the Iris being very specially 

 the Virgin's flower and of deep Christian significance. 

 The Cathedral of Florence is dedicated to Santa 

 Maria del Fiore (Our Lady of the Flower), the 

 flower referred to being the Iris, which is still the 

 emblem of the city, and always greatly in evidence 

 there. Six centuries later, Louis VII. assumed it on 

 his banner in his Crusade against the Saracens, and 

 it is said that it became known as Fleur de Louis, 

 corrupted into Fleur de Luce (as Flower de Luce it 

 is stiU known), and then into Fleur de Lys, or Lis — 

 i.e. the Lily Flower. It is curious how the idea of a 

 lily is bound up with the Iris, considering it has 

 nothing whatever to do with the lily family. Long- 

 fellow, quite incorrectly, apostrophises it as " beauti- 

 ful lily," and Ruskin is more poetical than accurate 

 when he refers to the Fleur de Lys having " a sword 

 for its leaf and a lily for its heart." 



This flower of legend and beauty has also a most 

 interesting nature in itself, and on one or two points 



is quite unique. It has a thick, creeping rootstock 



27 



