The Iris of Florence

The emblem of Florence is what we know as the Fleur de Lys. But whilst the Fleur de Lys is based historically on a lily flower, the emblem of Florence is derived from the Iris, and if you look at the flower form you can see why. The emblem appears all over Florence, on buildings and municipal plaques and in the art and illuminated scripts.

And due to the late spring there were lots of real Iris's everywhere too, still in full flower and there was even a display in one of the parks for the Annual Iris Festival, showcasing lots of colours and flower variants.

We saw them singly...

...and en masse, all of them beautiful.

What a fabulous way to top a wall!

And here's one from my own garden (note the abundance of water droplets - it'll be raining then!)