Truth, Grace and Life: C'est une table

French was my second language during the last two years of high school. I only remember two phrases from my french class. C'est une table. Je ne sais pas. My mother repeated the words s'il vous plaise, and merci beaucoup to me. My mother learned French from Alliance Francais. I forgot my french teacher's name but a friend who was in this class with me said our French teacher's name was Miss Sophie. Although I did not remember her name I remember I thought she was so like my mother. Perhaps this was the reason that I started liking the fleur de lis around ten years ago. The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys, is a common heraldic charge in the shape of a lily. Most notably, the fleur-de-lis is depicted on the traditional coat of arms of France that was used from the High Middle Ages until the French Revolution in 1792, and then again in brief periods in the 19th century. This info is from Wikipedia. I am guessing I may have liked the fleur de lis because of its french flavor. I don't know if I consciously remembered my french class at the time I liked this symbol. When I liked this symbol I thought it was a french cross. In reality it is a flower. It is symbolic of the lilly or iris. It used to be a symbol used in coats of arms which is a very medieval thing. It is cool that this symbol or pattern is still used in decor in the United States. Yesterday I researched the meaning of the phrase coat of arms. The coat of arms of a family, town or organization is a special design in the form of a shield that they use as a symbol of their identity. It is a group of emblems or figures usually arranged around a shield and serving as a special insignia of some person, family or institution. I read this in the internet. I think if during the middle ages they go out to war if they have a certain symbol in their shield they will know or others will know which group they belong to. Coat of arms also has to do with heraldic bearings. Heraldic bearings has to do with the right of a person to bear arms. Heraldry is the study of coats of arms and the history of the families who have them. Heraldry also has to do with geneologies. "It has to do with the settling of rights to bear arms or to use certain bearings, of tracing and recording certain geneologies, of recording honors and deciding questions of precedence." I guess, this takes us to a bygone world of knights and chivalry. I bought this fabric that was printed with french flavored words and had a picture of the fleur de lis from hobby lobby. I made place mats with this fabric. Here is a picture of that fabric.

I have no idea what was going in my head when I decided to like a medieval french symbol. A castle the knights had to defend may have looked like this. The castle may have had flags with symbols on flags that represented the family in the castle. The shield of the knights may have depicted similar symbols. I drew fleur de lis on pillow covers, I bought a gold wall decor fleur de lis from hobby lobby and bought curtain rods with fleur de lis finials. I dont know why I liked the symbol because I had never seen it in India. I never saw this symbol in french class. I am very aware of the fact that this is a rambling post with lots of loose ends. I guess the point I am trying to make is that I may have liked the fleur de lis and fabric with french words due to studying french years ago and also due to a liking for the charmed world of chivalry and courage. Here are some examples of Fleur de lis in decor.