In his Heraldry series of 1996, Brian Clarke explored the French heraldic symbol of the fleur de lys. Clarke recalled first encountering this motif at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, where it appears repeatedly in stained glass windows and is stamped across architectural surfaces. In this series, Clarke reproduced the symbol mimetically, shown as if held in a hand, and presented either in patterned compositions on blue grounds or as enlarged single elements on green grounds.

Leaving a lasting impression on Clarke, the motif continued to recur throughout his work across media, including in two further extensive series of paintings, Fleur de Lys of 1998–2000 and Fleur de Lys of 2004, where the symbol appears reduced to its essential graphic quailities.