Fleur de lys

Legend tells that the lily (Fleur de lys) sprung from the tears shed by Eve as she left the Garden of Eden (just as that unrelated flower, the lily of the valley, was said to have grown from the tears of the Mary, the mother of Jesus at the foot of the Cross).

It has been the symbol of purity and was accordingly readily adopted by the Church to associate the Virgin Mary's sanctity with events of special significance.

Explanations include the shape having been developed from the image of a dove descending, which is the symbol of the Holy Ghost.