The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys (plural: fleurs-de-lis, or fleurs-de-lys)[pron 1] is a stylized lily (in French, fleur means 'flower', and lis means 'lily') that is used as a decorative design or motif. Many of the Catholic saints of France, particularly St. Joseph, are depicted with a lily. Since France is a historically Catholic nation, the fleur-de-lis became 'at one and the same time, religious, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic', especially in French heraldry.[4]