Fleur de Lis 

Here we have very different pieces, from two very different makers, that share the same pattern name, based on the same symbol, the fleur-de-lis.

The fleur-de-lis is a stylised lily flower and its use as an emblem is said to be traceable back to as early as 493AD. One historical interpretation is that its three leaves represented the three main social classes of that time – those who worked, those who fought, and those who prayed.

By the 12^th Century it was being used as an heraldic emblem by the Kings of France, and over the centuries, it appeared on many European coats of arms and flags. The fleur-de-lis also crossed the Atlantic to America with European settlers (especially from France) who were bound for the New World, and it can be found on coats of arms and flags in both the USA and Canada (Source: Wikipedia).

How fitting then that the emblem which spans Europe and the USA was also used as a Carnival Glass design by glass makers on both sides of the Atlantic – by Inwald in Czechoslovakia and by Millersburg in the USA – and used to stunning effect as these pictures show.