Crapaud is sometimes used as an incorrect reference to the Fleur-de-lys on the ancient heraldic flag of the kings of France.
[1] The word crapaud is used extensively by fictional British soldier Richard Sharpe as a derogatory term for the French in Bernard Cornwell's novels set during the Napoleonic Wars.
It is intended as a national personification of the French people as a whole in much the same sense as John Bull is to the English.
It is sometimes used as a literary device to refer to a typical Frenchman, usually in the form of Monsieur Jean Crapaud.
The name Crapaud is used in the Channel Islands to describe a person from Jersey, the name meaning toad in the local Patois languages, including Jèrriais and Guernésiais.