The fleur-de-lis spelled fleur-de-lys is an Iris versicolor or "Harlequin Blue Flag" endemic to the wet lands of the eastern coast of the United States and Canada. Some historians believe that Jacques Cartier brought it back from his first voyage to the "Nouvelle-France", it resembled the flowers growing on the shores of the Lys River which had become the inspiration of European monarchs, it became the official flower on the coats of arms of the Chateau of St-Lys in Occitania - Languedoc south-western region of France bordering Andorra and Spain's Catalonia. This spectacular combination of the valued purple— associated with high royalty, luxury and ambition, dignity, devotion, pride, mystery and magic…— with the amazing yellow-gold centre made it a favoured floral emblem used as a decorative design or motif for royalty and cities throughout France and Spain. Since France is a Catholic nation, the fleur-de-lis became "at one and the same time, political, artistic and symbolic" in French heraldry but some Spanish heraldry.

On 28 October 1999, the Quebec government issued "An Act respecting the flag and emblems of Québec" for its revised flag and emblem description, receiving royal sanction on 5 November 1999. The fleur-de-lis is represented in Unicode at U+269C in the Miscellaneous Symbols block. While the fleur-de-lis has appeared on countless European coats of arms and flags over the centuries, it is associated with the French monarchy in a historical context and continues to appear in the arms of the King of Spain, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, members of the House of Bourbon, it remains an enduring symbol of France which appears on French postage stamps, although it has never been adopted by any of the French republics. According to French historian Georges Duby, the three petals represent the three medieval social estates: the commoners, the nobility, the clergy. Although the origin of the fleur-de-lis is unclear, it has retained an association with French nobility, it is used in French city emblems as in the coat of arms of the city of Lille, Saint-Denis, Clermont-Ferrand, Boulogne-Billancourt, Calais.

Some cities, faithful to the French Crown were awarded a heraldic augmentation of two or three fleurs-de-lis on the chief of their coat of arms. The fleur-de-lis was the symbol of the core of the French kingdom, it has appeared on the coat-of-arms of other historical provinces of France including Burgundy, Picardy, Orléanais, Maine, Artois, Dauphiné, the County of La Marche. Many of the current French departments use the symbol on their coats-of-arms to express this heritage. In Italy, the fleur de lis, called giglio bottonato, is known from the crest of the city of Florence. In the Florentine fleurs-de-lis, the stamens are always posed between the petals. Argent on gules background, the emblem became the standard of the imperial party in Florence, causing the town government, which maintained a staunch Guelph stance, being opposed to the imperial pretensions on city states, to reverse the color pattern to the final gules lily on argent background; this heraldic charge is known as the Florentine lily to distinguish it from the conventional design.

As an emblem of the city, it is therefore found in icons of Zenobius, its first bishop, associated with Florence's patron Saint John the Baptist in the Florentine fiorino. Several towns subjugated by Florence or founded within the territory of the Florentine Republic adopted a variation of the Florentine lily in their crests without the stamens; the heraldic fleur-de-lis is still widespread: among the numerous cities which use it as a symbol are some whose names echo the word'lily', for example, Liljendal and Lelystad, Netherlands. This is called canting arms in heraldic terminology. Other European examples of municipal coats-of-arms bearing the fleur-de-lis include Lincoln in England, Morcín in Spain, Wiesbaden in Germany, Skierniewice in Poland and Jurbarkas in Lithuania; the Swiss municipality of Schlieren and the Estonian municipality of Jõelähtme have a fleur-de-lis on their coats. In Malta, the town of Santa Venera has three red fleurs-de-lis on its coat of arms; these are derived from an arch, part of the Wignacourt Aqueduct that had three sculpted fleurs-de-lis on top, as they were the heraldic symbols of Alof de Wignacourt, the Grand Master who financed its building.

Another suburb which developed around the area became known as Fleur-de-Lys, it features a red fleur-de-lis on its flag and coat of arms. The coat of arms of the medieval Kingdom of Bosnia contained six fleurs-de-lis, understood as the native Bosnian or Golden Lily, Lilium bosniacum; this emblem was revived in 1992 as a national symbol of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and was the flag of Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1998. The state insignia were changed in 1999; the former flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herz

Maria Feodorovna Nagaya was a Russian tsaritsa and fifth uncanonical wife of Ivan the Terrible. Maria married Ivan IV in 1581 and a year she gave birth to their son Dmitry. In 1582, the tsar suggested to queen Elizabeth of England that he would marry her relative Mary Hastings and divorce his wife Maria Nagaya, but these plans never came to fruition. Maria was not favored by her husband, only the birth of her son spared her banishment from court. After the Tsar's death in 1584, Nagaya was not granted any property in the will of the late tsar, but left to live on the income from the land of her son, granted Uglich, both she and her son was placed under the guardianship of the boyars. While the guardian regency of the new tsar, lead by Boris Godunov, granted Maria an allowance, she was forced to leave the court and the capital and depart with her son and her brothers to her son's city of Uglich. In 1591, her son Dimtry died in Uglich of an epileptic seizure. A commission was instigated by Godunov to investigate the death of her son, Maria and her brothers supported the rumour that her son had died due to a political murder committed by Godunov, supported a riot who attached Pro-Godunov boyars' houses in Uglich.

They were however called to Moscow where Maria and her relatives were accused of "criminal negligence" and, as a result, her brothers were incarcerated, she was made a nun in the Beloozero monastery. In 1604, upon rumors that Maria had met the pretender the False Dmitry, who posed as her son, she was called by Godunov, who questioned her, but she denied having met Dmitry and was sent back to the convent. In 1605, after the accession of False Dmitriy I in Moscow, Nagaya famously legitimized him as pretender by identifying him as her son and returned to Moscow. All of her family members were freed, reinstated in their ranks, given their confiscated property. In 1606, the False Dimitry had the body of her son Dmitry exhumed in the hope to prove that it was the body of another; this act, offended Maria, who renounced the False Dmitry as her son with the support of the boyars, thus undermining his legitimacy as tsar. After the death of False Dmitry, Maria was allowed to remain to attend the reburial of her son before returning to the convent.

Зимин А. А. В канун грозных потрясений: Предпосылки первой Крестьянской войны в России. М. 1986

H. RES.125 Calling on Brazil in accordance with its obligations under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction to obtain, as a matter of extreme urgency, the return of Sean Goldman to his father David Goldman in the United States. Sponsor: Rep Smith, Christopher H. Cosponsors Committees: House Foreign Affairs Latest Major Action: 3/11/2009 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays:: 418 - 0. H. RES.1326: Calling on the Government of Japan to address the urgent problem of abduction to and retention of United States citizen children in Japan, to work with the Government of the United States to return these children to their custodial parent or to the original jurisdiction for a custody determination in the United States, to provide left-behind parents immediate access to their children, to adopt without delay the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Sponsor: Rep Moran, James P. Cosponsors Committees: House Foreign Affairs Latest Major Action: 9/29/2010 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays:: 416 - 1. H. R.2702: Suspend Brazil GSP ActSponsor: Rep Smith, Christopher H. Cosponsors Committees: House Ways and Means Latest Major Action: 6/4/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. H. R.3240: International Child Abduction Prevention Act of 2009Sponsor: Rep Smith, Christopher H. Cosponsors Committees: House Foreign Affairs. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, Border Security, International Law. H. R.3487: International Parental Child Abduction Deterrence ActRep Holt, Rush D. Cosponsors Committees: House Judiciary Latest Major Action: 9/14/2009 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, Border Security, International Law. H.

AMDT.191 to H. R.2410 An amendment numbered 11 printed in part C of House Report 111-134 to direct the Secretary of State to report within 60 days of enactment on changes in treaty and U. S. laws that could help improve compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Sponsor: Rep Holt, Rush D. Cosponsors Latest Major Action: 6/10/2009 House amendment agreed to. Status: On agreeing to the Holt amendment Agreed to by voice vote. S. RES.37: A resolution calling on Brazil to comply with the requirements of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and to assist in the safe return of Sean Goldman to his father, David Goldman. Sponsor: Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. Cosponsors Committees: Senate Foreign Relations Latest Major Action: 3/24/2009 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Resolution agreed to in Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title and an amended preamble by Unanimous Consent. H. R.2518: Bring Our Children Home ActSponsor: Rep Lampson, Nick Cosponsors Committees: House Judiciary.

Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities. H. R.6095: International and Parental Child Abduction Remedies Assistance ActSponsor: Rep Lampson, Nick Cosponsors Committees: House Judiciary Latest Major Action: 7/28/2008 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, Intellectual Property. H. R.6096: International Child Abduction Progress Reports ActSponsor: Rep Lampson, Nick Cosponsors Committees: House Foreign Affairs. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime and Homeland Security. H. RES.821: Condemning the abduction of Dylan Benwell from the United States and calling for his return. Sponsor: Rep Crane, Philip M. Cosponsors Committees: House International Relations Latest Major Action: 10/7/2004 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution Agreed to by voice vote. H. R.3941: Bring Our Children Home ActSponsor: Rep Lampson, Nick Cosponsors Committees: House Judiciary. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, Intellectual Property.

H. R.4347: International Assistance to Missing and Exploited Children Act of 2004Sponsor: Rep Hyde, Henry J. Cosponsors Committees: House Judiciary.