What does it Mean to you?
I keep meaning to post the picture of my new tattoo. It is a Fleur de lis, done in purple shading. Its on my right outside ankle, beneath my music notes. I didn't do the typical yellow, green and purple, because on the inside right ankle I have my star turtle tattoo and it has yellow and green. On Tuesday I was showing a co-worker the new tat and he said "Your a Saints fan??" I said, "That is not what this means" Later that day he said he asked a few people "When you see a Fleur de lis, what do you think it means?" Two of the people said the Saints, one other said "The city of New Orleans." The next day he told me that the following article appeared in the TP in which it discusses very briefly the Fleur de lis.
Flag wavers Locals are showing their true colors
by flying fleur-de-lis banners
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Angus Lind
Ever since David Huete moved into his house on Prytania Street in January 1997, there has been a flag flying from his front porch at almost all times.
"I put flags up on holidays, special occasions, whatever," he explained.
These days, like a growing number of Orleanians, he and his wife, Maria, are flying the tricolor flag of the city of New Orleans: brilliant crimson at the top, a larger white field with three gold fleurs-de-lis in triangular form in the middle and a blue stripe at the bottom.
Huete, a Shell Oil Co. engineer for 30 years, is as New Orleans as one can get. Sporting a Mandina's Restaurant T-shirt that proudly states, "No Tank Tops. No Credit Cards," the Jesuit High School graduate said he flies his New Orleans flag during Carnival season (along with a Mardi Gras flag), on Jan. 8 (the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans) -- in short, to mark "anything to do with New Orleans."
Not surprisingly, it has flown at his house every day since the Huetes returned from their Katrina evacuation to Houston, and it will continue to do so. Huete looks at the city flag as the symbol of the spirit of New Orleans coming back.
"The subject I never get tired of talking about is New Orleans. I work with people who come here from all over the world. And what I see is how few people have a sense of place and home. And I feel sad for people who don't feel that drive to come home," he said.
"That's why it's so important to have a home to come home to. And that's why I fly that flag."
Huete has two brothers who served in the military, one who is still on active duty, another brother who is a government employee and another who is a priest. Like many locals, he said he has been disappointed with the slow response to the devastation from Katrina.
"I didn't think America was the kind of place that didn't take care of its own. An America that leaves New Orleans behind is not an America I want to live in," Huete said.
Local lawyer Warren "Butch" Greenwood, who is flying his city of New Orleans flag above the American flag at his home on State Street, agrees. "I'm more proud of my little city than my national government, and I'm not alone," he said. He sees New Orleans as "one of the jewels of the American crown." But . . .
"There's a time in everybody's history when you have to make a stand. It's a question of pride. I never put flags above the American flag, but that's where we are right now," Greenwood said. "I'm embarrassed about our country."
Greenwood's neighbors, Mignon and Joseph Constans, the latter a VA Hospital psychologist, feel they are doing their small part to sustain the city's spirit. "We're so fortunate to be home, but it's sobering to be back," she said. Her dad, Russell Guerin, who lives on Bayou St. John near the Fair Grounds, "thinks everyone should fly the flag so the national media can come see it."
Another Prytania Street flag-waver is Julie Calhoun. "My mother-in-law drives by and tells me it's so beautiful, and I know she's not talking about my house," Calhoun said. She and her husband, Patrick, fly their city flag as "a sense of pride. I love seeing it," she said. "I'm an Orleanian and proud of it. When we were in Atlanta, we said we need to go home and take our city back."
And fly the flag.
"The spirit of New Orleans is really showing up here," said Jack Matranga, owner of the Pennant Shop on Metairie Road. "It's almost like the surge on U.S. flags after 9/11. The people feel they want to fly it so we're not forgotten."
When Mayor Marc Morial was in office, Matranga said, he found in a safe at City Hall the original drawing and specifications for the flag, which was designed by Bernard Barry and Gus Couret, according to the sketch. Matranga has a copy of it.
The official flag was adopted by the Commission Council in 1918 in honor of the New Orleans bicentennial celebration. Ida Barrow, a public schools drawing teacher, was responsible for the idea that the city should have a flag. Mayor Martin Behrman liked the concept, and a committee was formed to select the winner from some 300 designs.
According to the Louisiana Historical Society, the first flag was sewn by the "Betsy Ross of New Orleans," a Mrs. J.R. Bonneval, and it was raised over City Hall on Feb. 9, 1918, on the 200th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans.
"It is a beautiful flag," said Matranga, whose parents' flag and pennant shop began operation on Baronne Street in 1930. "We made it through the Depression and World War II, so we weren't about to stop for Katrina," he said. The shop was closed for about six weeks until electricity was restored -- "It's the longest we've ever been closed" -- and since then about 80 flags have been sold.
Flags flying in the city have been purchased from other outlets as well, including City Hall, Brad & Dellwen's Flag Shop on Magazine Street and the Kitchen Witch on Toulouse Street in the French Quarter. (The city of New Orleans Web site lists the flags at $60 for a 3-by-5-foot indoor flag and $75 for a 4-by-6-foot outdoor flag. To order, the site instructs buyers to e-mail the mayor's communications director, Sally Forman, at sforman@mayorofno.com.)
The colors of the flag have specific meanings. The white field is the symbol of purity of government from which alone justice and equality can flow. The crimson or red stripe at the top represents fraternity, and the blue stripe at the bottom stands for liberty.
The white field of purity is five times as large as the stripes of fraternity and liberty because it is the mother of both, and the combination of these three fundamental principles of good government constitutes democracy.
The three fleurs-de-lis represent the birth of New Orleans. The red, white and blue are the colors of the American flag but are also the colors of France -- and since New Orleans is the daughter of both, they were grouped differently to constitute a new and separate entity, which became the flag of the city. (Also, the flag of Bourbon France was white with gold fleurs-de-lis.)
In the 900 block of Eleonore Street, Karen and Brooke Duncan III put up their New Orleans flag on Nov. 1. Karen Duncan said they felt the need to express their support for the city, "a confused city. It's like having a crazy sister -- she's crazy, but she's my crazy."
Meanwhile, in the 6000 block of Camp Street live Martine and Kevin Wiseman, the latter an instructor of Microsoft networking classes at ITT Technical Institute in St. Rose. In an apartment in the same house is his uncle, retired Fair Grounds Hall of Fame jockey Johnny "Uncle Bubby" Heckmann, who always flew the American flag.
About two years ago, alongside the American flag, they began to fly the New Orleans flag on election days and other New Orleans special occasions. "Just a little civic pride," Kevin Wiseman said.
A hurricane named Katrina changed all that.
"We're leaving it out for good," he said. "And for strength."
This has gotten me to thinking what does the Fleur de lis mean to other people? When you see the Fleur de lis do you automatically think of the city of New Orleans? Or do you think of the New Orleans Saints? Or of something completely different. For myself its the City of New Orleans. I decided to "google its ass" to find out the *true* history of the symbol. It seems to be a highly debatable topic....how long its been used, who has used it and what it stood for. It seems to me that it can mean whatever it means to each individual person, be it for the football team, the city of New Orleans, religion, Mardi Gras, Royalty, the list seems to go on and on. Here are a few links I found interesting http://www.heraldica.org/topics/fdl.htm and http://www.fleurdelis.com/fleur.htm
So what does it mean to you?
I keep meaning to post the picture of my new tattoo. It is a Fleur de lis, done in purple shading. Its on my right outside ankle, beneath my music notes. I didn't do the typical yellow, green and purple, because on the inside right ankle I have my star turtle tattoo and it has yellow and green. On Tuesday I was showing a co-worker the new tat and he said "Your a Saints fan??" I said, "That is not what this means" Later that day he said he asked a few people "When you see a Fleur de lis, what do you think it means?" Two of the people said the Saints, one other said "The city of New Orleans." The next day he told me that the following article appeared in the TP in which it discusses very briefly the Fleur de lis.
Flag wavers Locals are showing their true colors
by flying fleur-de-lis banners
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Angus Lind
Ever since David Huete moved into his house on Prytania Street in January 1997, there has been a flag flying from his front porch at almost all times.
"I put flags up on holidays, special occasions, whatever," he explained.
These days, like a growing number of Orleanians, he and his wife, Maria, are flying the tricolor flag of the city of New Orleans: brilliant crimson at the top, a larger white field with three gold fleurs-de-lis in triangular form in the middle and a blue stripe at the bottom.
Huete, a Shell Oil Co. engineer for 30 years, is as New Orleans as one can get. Sporting a Mandina's Restaurant T-shirt that proudly states, "No Tank Tops. No Credit Cards," the Jesuit High School graduate said he flies his New Orleans flag during Carnival season (along with a Mardi Gras flag), on Jan. 8 (the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans) -- in short, to mark "anything to do with New Orleans."
Not surprisingly, it has flown at his house every day since the Huetes returned from their Katrina evacuation to Houston, and it will continue to do so. Huete looks at the city flag as the symbol of the spirit of New Orleans coming back.
"The subject I never get tired of talking about is New Orleans. I work with people who come here from all over the world. And what I see is how few people have a sense of place and home. And I feel sad for people who don't feel that drive to come home," he said.
"That's why it's so important to have a home to come home to. And that's why I fly that flag."
Huete has two brothers who served in the military, one who is still on active duty, another brother who is a government employee and another who is a priest. Like many locals, he said he has been disappointed with the slow response to the devastation from Katrina.
"I didn't think America was the kind of place that didn't take care of its own. An America that leaves New Orleans behind is not an America I want to live in," Huete said.
Local lawyer Warren "Butch" Greenwood, who is flying his city of New Orleans flag above the American flag at his home on State Street, agrees. "I'm more proud of my little city than my national government, and I'm not alone," he said. He sees New Orleans as "one of the jewels of the American crown." But . . .
"There's a time in everybody's history when you have to make a stand. It's a question of pride. I never put flags above the American flag, but that's where we are right now," Greenwood said. "I'm embarrassed about our country."
Greenwood's neighbors, Mignon and Joseph Constans, the latter a VA Hospital psychologist, feel they are doing their small part to sustain the city's spirit. "We're so fortunate to be home, but it's sobering to be back," she said. Her dad, Russell Guerin, who lives on Bayou St. John near the Fair Grounds, "thinks everyone should fly the flag so the national media can come see it."
Another Prytania Street flag-waver is Julie Calhoun. "My mother-in-law drives by and tells me it's so beautiful, and I know she's not talking about my house," Calhoun said. She and her husband, Patrick, fly their city flag as "a sense of pride. I love seeing it," she said. "I'm an Orleanian and proud of it. When we were in Atlanta, we said we need to go home and take our city back."
And fly the flag.
"The spirit of New Orleans is really showing up here," said Jack Matranga, owner of the Pennant Shop on Metairie Road. "It's almost like the surge on U.S. flags after 9/11. The people feel they want to fly it so we're not forgotten."
When Mayor Marc Morial was in office, Matranga said, he found in a safe at City Hall the original drawing and specifications for the flag, which was designed by Bernard Barry and Gus Couret, according to the sketch. Matranga has a copy of it.
The official flag was adopted by the Commission Council in 1918 in honor of the New Orleans bicentennial celebration. Ida Barrow, a public schools drawing teacher, was responsible for the idea that the city should have a flag. Mayor Martin Behrman liked the concept, and a committee was formed to select the winner from some 300 designs.
According to the Louisiana Historical Society, the first flag was sewn by the "Betsy Ross of New Orleans," a Mrs. J.R. Bonneval, and it was raised over City Hall on Feb. 9, 1918, on the 200th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans.
"It is a beautiful flag," said Matranga, whose parents' flag and pennant shop began operation on Baronne Street in 1930. "We made it through the Depression and World War II, so we weren't about to stop for Katrina," he said. The shop was closed for about six weeks until electricity was restored -- "It's the longest we've ever been closed" -- and since then about 80 flags have been sold.
Flags flying in the city have been purchased from other outlets as well, including City Hall, Brad & Dellwen's Flag Shop on Magazine Street and the Kitchen Witch on Toulouse Street in the French Quarter. (The city of New Orleans Web site lists the flags at $60 for a 3-by-5-foot indoor flag and $75 for a 4-by-6-foot outdoor flag. To order, the site instructs buyers to e-mail the mayor's communications director, Sally Forman, at sforman@mayorofno.com.)
The colors of the flag have specific meanings. The white field is the symbol of purity of government from which alone justice and equality can flow. The crimson or red stripe at the top represents fraternity, and the blue stripe at the bottom stands for liberty.
The white field of purity is five times as large as the stripes of fraternity and liberty because it is the mother of both, and the combination of these three fundamental principles of good government constitutes democracy.
The three fleurs-de-lis represent the birth of New Orleans. The red, white and blue are the colors of the American flag but are also the colors of France -- and since New Orleans is the daughter of both, they were grouped differently to constitute a new and separate entity, which became the flag of the city. (Also, the flag of Bourbon France was white with gold fleurs-de-lis.)
In the 900 block of Eleonore Street, Karen and Brooke Duncan III put up their New Orleans flag on Nov. 1. Karen Duncan said they felt the need to express their support for the city, "a confused city. It's like having a crazy sister -- she's crazy, but she's my crazy."
Meanwhile, in the 6000 block of Camp Street live Martine and Kevin Wiseman, the latter an instructor of Microsoft networking classes at ITT Technical Institute in St. Rose. In an apartment in the same house is his uncle, retired Fair Grounds Hall of Fame jockey Johnny "Uncle Bubby" Heckmann, who always flew the American flag.
About two years ago, alongside the American flag, they began to fly the New Orleans flag on election days and other New Orleans special occasions. "Just a little civic pride," Kevin Wiseman said.
A hurricane named Katrina changed all that.
"We're leaving it out for good," he said. "And for strength."
This has gotten me to thinking what does the Fleur de lis mean to other people? When you see the Fleur de lis do you automatically think of the city of New Orleans? Or do you think of the New Orleans Saints? Or of something completely different. For myself its the City of New Orleans. I decided to "google its ass" to find out the *true* history of the symbol. It seems to be a highly debatable topic....how long its been used, who has used it and what it stood for. It seems to me that it can mean whatever it means to each individual person, be it for the football team, the city of New Orleans, religion, Mardi Gras, Royalty, the list seems to go on and on. Here are a few links I found interesting http://www.heraldica.org/topics/fdl.htm and http://www.fleurdelis.com/fleur.htm
So what does it mean to you?
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