What is a glyph, apart from a strange-sounding word. Street talk for "hieroglyphic." The best known example of a glyph today is the New Orleans fleur de lis. The two symbols are synonymous, you just can't picture one without the other. American football fans recognize it immediately as the icon for the NFL football team, the New Orleans Saints. It may come as a surprise that the glyph has its roots hundreds of years ago in ancient Egypt.
It is hard to pin down a decent definition of the word, "glyph." Some people define it as a typographical mark that has a specific meaning. For instance, if you leave the dot off of the lower case letter "i, " most languages still read it as the letter it is meant to be. In Turkey, however, the letter "i" without the dot means something different from the same letter with the dot. So, in the English language, "i" without the dot is not a glyph; in Turkish, it is a glyph.
It becomes even clearer when you think of languages like Japanese, that use syllabaries. These are made up of little marks that on their own mean nothing but, together in a "word, " they mean something. A diacritical mark is another form of glyph. Think of the German umlaut, the two dots above a letter. Alone, they look like a sleeping colon; above a letter, they help you pronounce it.
This brings us back to the role of the fleur de lis as an icon for New Orleans. Where did it come from? What did it mean to our ancestors way back when? When did it ever mean anything other than beer, football and the Super Bowl?
The glyph we know and love today goes back to early 11th century France, or rather, the patch of land that was to later become known as France. The first king of what would later become France (Frank), was Clovis I. He is said to have been handed a fleur down from Heaven itself. Later, Philip I, the first King of actual France, integrated it as part of his own royal insignia.
England took the symbol and morphed it into something suitable for its own royalty. Today, it is the symbol for the Prince of Wales. Prince Charles of England uses it. His logo looks like three feathers sticking out of a crown.
Now, the glyph is getting closer to home. The French explorer, Sieur de La Salle, came over and laid claim to the Mississippi valley, albeit temporarily, as French territory. In the process, he stuck a flag at the mouth of the river of the same name. The flag bore a fleur de lis. The banner that he used consisted of a patch of white cloth bearing a golden flower of life.
French settlers who founded New Orleans used the flag. The fleur thus became a very early symbol of New Orleans. For centuries, it has been celebrated in art, architecture, jewelry and football uniforms. There is no single, "correct" fleur de lis. The symbol has taken on many different forms over the years and there are now hundreds of different styles.
It is hard to pin down a decent definition of the word, "glyph." Some people define it as a typographical mark that has a specific meaning. For instance, if you leave the dot off of the lower case letter "i, " most languages still read it as the letter it is meant to be. In Turkey, however, the letter "i" without the dot means something different from the same letter with the dot. So, in the English language, "i" without the dot is not a glyph; in Turkish, it is a glyph.
It becomes even clearer when you think of languages like Japanese, that use syllabaries. These are made up of little marks that on their own mean nothing but, together in a "word, " they mean something. A diacritical mark is another form of glyph. Think of the German umlaut, the two dots above a letter. Alone, they look like a sleeping colon; above a letter, they help you pronounce it.
This brings us back to the role of the fleur de lis as an icon for New Orleans. Where did it come from? What did it mean to our ancestors way back when? When did it ever mean anything other than beer, football and the Super Bowl?
The glyph we know and love today goes back to early 11th century France, or rather, the patch of land that was to later become known as France. The first king of what would later become France (Frank), was Clovis I. He is said to have been handed a fleur down from Heaven itself. Later, Philip I, the first King of actual France, integrated it as part of his own royal insignia.
England took the symbol and morphed it into something suitable for its own royalty. Today, it is the symbol for the Prince of Wales. Prince Charles of England uses it. His logo looks like three feathers sticking out of a crown.
Now, the glyph is getting closer to home. The French explorer, Sieur de La Salle, came over and laid claim to the Mississippi valley, albeit temporarily, as French territory. In the process, he stuck a flag at the mouth of the river of the same name. The flag bore a fleur de lis. The banner that he used consisted of a patch of white cloth bearing a golden flower of life.
French settlers who founded New Orleans used the flag. The fleur thus became a very early symbol of New Orleans. For centuries, it has been celebrated in art, architecture, jewelry and football uniforms. There is no single, "correct" fleur de lis. The symbol has taken on many different forms over the years and there are now hundreds of different styles.
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