Although it had a considerable history, existing from the 12th century, such formality has largely died out in France, as far as regulated personal heraldry is concerned.

However, there is no central registry of arms; in case of dispute, the individual who can prove the longest right to the blazon must be decided in court.

As many grantees were self-made men, and the arms often alluded to their life or specific actions, many new or unusual charges were also introduced.

Military barons and counts had a sword on their quarter, members of the Conseil d'Etat had a chequy, ministers had a lion's head, prefects had a wall beneath an oak branch, mayors had a wall, landowners had a wheat stalk, judges had a balance, members of Academies had a palm, etc.

An interministerial commission requested Robert Louis (1902–1965), heraldic artist, to produce a version of the Chaplain design.

Technically speaking, it is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not respect heraldic rules—heraldry being seen as an aristocratic art, and therefore associated with the Ancien Régime.

The emblem consists of: The fleur-de-lys (or fleur-de-lis, plural: fleurs-de-lis; /ˌflɜːrdəˈliː/, [ˌflœː(ʀ)dəˈlɪs] in Quebec French), translated from French as "lily flower") is a stylized design of either an iris or a lily that is now used purely decoratively as well as symbolically, or it may be "at one and the same time political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic and symbolic",[3] especially in heraldry.

The coat of arms of the city of Paris, in its current form, dates back to 1358, when King Charles V officially installed it.

[4] On the coat of arms, the represented vessel is the symbol of the powerful corporate body of the Marchands de l'eau, dating back to the Middle Ages.

The city motto, "Fluctuat nec mergitur" ("It is beaten by the waves without being submerged") is equally a reference to this boat.

They constituted of a rampant (ready to pounce) argent (silver) lion on a red field, with a clearly identifiable tongue.

It is around 1320 that the chief azure three fleurs de lys d'or, the upper band still present on the arms, was added to the lion symbolizing royal protection.

The shield reads not as a symbol, but as a riddle: the argent lion is canted: it is a pun on the city's name, "Lyon".

In the 14th century appears a third authority, consuls, elected by the people and defenders of freedoms and exemptions granted by the two co-lords.