New Orleans' Love Affair with the Fleur-de-Lis

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New Orleans, or as natives express it, Nawlins, is so proud of its French heritage (not to mention its NFL football team and the LSU Tigers college team) that the fleur-de-lis (French for "lilly") is everywhere, made out of all kinds of substances, even water.  Believe me when I say it's EVERYWHERE.

Potholders got it.  The oven mitts have Louisiana crabs, crawfish and shrimp.

On shingles from homes destroyed by Katrina.

Coat hooks.

Evening clutch bags.

This one is for just because.

Iron hooks.

Necklace and earrings

This is a New Orleans Saints football hero on the roof of a tattoo parlor.  The tattoo artist gave the mannikin a fleur-de-lis tattoo on his left forearm.

A U.S. flag reconstructed with fleur-de-lis in black and gold, plus stripes.

The central group of lagniappe beads is fleur-de-lis.  All the strands are in black and gold (except for the footballs).  From left to right, footballs, little Mardi Gras masks, fleur-de-lis, black & gold, and a different type of mask.

Refrigerator magnets.

Even the water is shaped like fleur-de-lis.  This fountain is in Louis Armstrong Park.

According to Wikipedia:  While the fleur-de-lis has appeared on countless European coats of arms and flags over the centuries, it is particularly associated with the French monarchy in a historical context.  According to French historian Georges Duby, the three leaves represent the medieval social classes: those who worked, those who fought and those who prayed.^[5]

It is also the emblem of the city of Florence, and of the Swiss municipality of Schlieren.

In North America, the fleur-de-lis is often associated with areas first named or settled by the French. In the US, they tend to be along or near the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Some of the places that have the fleur-de-lis in their flag or seal are the cities of St. Louis, Louisville, Detroit, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge and the states ofLouisiana and Missouri.