france was azure
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Emblem of fidelity and truth. Represented in heraldic devices by horizontal lines. Ultimately Arabic or Per- sian, and connected with "lapis lazuli" for which the word "azure" used to stand.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “france was azure” mean?
Emblem of fidelity and truth. Represented in heraldic devices by horizontal lines. Ultimately Arabic or Per- sian, and connected with "lapis lazuli" for which the word "azure" used to stand.
Is “france was azure” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.