My friend Kate brought me this spoon from Florence, Italy, so it seemed only right that I let her write the history fact about the fleur de lis at the top.
“The Florentine fleur de lis has been the symbol and coat of arms of Florence since the early Middle Ages. The city was rumored to have been founded by the Romans during their spring festival, when the city’s native iris flowers were blooming. Hence the symbol. The coat of arms used to depict a white iris on a red background until the two major political parties during the Middle Ages, the Guelphs (pro-Pope) and Ghibellines (pro-Emperor) had a falling out, and the Guelphs were all exiled from the city. As the Guelphs had adopted the white iris to represent themselves, the victorious Ghibellines reversed the colors to red-on-white, as we see today. In the 1800s, Napoleon briefly tried to change the city’s symbol to a lily on green grass with a silver background, but the Florentines collectively said, “nah.”
Also note: the Fleur de Lis also makes an excellent tattoo!”