The ''Marchands de l'eau
(hanse parisienne des marchands de l'eau) were a corporation or guild established by royal privilege in 1170 with the right for commercial navigation on the Seine between Paris and Mantes. Their seal in c. 1210 showed a river boat. By the mid-14th century, the members of the guild, known as the hansés
, became the most influential faction in the city, and their emblem, now represented as a sailing-vessel bearing the royal fleur-de-lis as its emblem, came to be used as the city coat of arms. The first recorded use of the coat of arms dates to 1358. The city colors of red and blue also date to 1358, introduced by Étienne Marcel. In the 15th century, the coat of arms is shown as a red a ship argent (without the waves) with the Capetian arms in chief, at the time azure, three fleurs-de-lis or. The use of semé-de-lis
(France ancien'') is attested for the early 16th century. When the
French Revolution abolished the nobility by the decree of 20 June 1790, it simultaneously disallowed all emblems or coats of arms. The municipality of Paris quickly complied, and abolished its own arms in November of that same year. It was not until the
First French Empire that new cities were officially allowed to have arms. For Paris, this resulted in the Letters Patent granted to the city of Paris by
Napoleon on 29 January 1811. In the Letters Patent of
Louis XVIII in 1817, the coat of arms of Paris was restored in its traditional form, except for the chief, where the fleur-de-lis were replaced by the three bees used
by Napoleon (attributed to the
Merovingian kings, especially
Childeric I). The
July Monarchy re-introduced the old (pre-revolutionary) coat of arms. Under the
French Second Republic (1848–1852), the fleurs-de-lis were replaced by stars. Under the
Second French Empire, the old coat-of-arms was once again restored. The motto
Fluctuat nec mergitur dates to the same time, officially introduced by a decree dated 24 November 1853, by
Baron Haussmann, then prefect of the
Seine. It has been part of the full coat of arms since that time. Additions made to the full achievement of the coat of arms in modern times include three badges, for: • the
Legion of Honor (decree of 9 October 1900); • the
Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 (Decree of 28 July 1919); • the
Order of Liberation (decree of 24 March 1945). File:Moulage du sceau des marchands de l'eau de Paris. 1 - Archives Nationales - SC-D5582.jpg|Seal of the '' marchands de l'eau
, c. 1210 (SIGIL[LVM ME]RCATORVM AQVE PARISIVS'') File:Seal of Paris (No 6).jpg|Seal dated 1412, showing a ship with two fleur-de-lis File:Armorial de Gilles Le Bouvier - BNF Fr4985 f21r.jpg|Armorial de Gilles Le Bouvier (1455), representing the sailing boat (without sails) used by the ''marchands de l'eau''. File:Écusson de la ville de Paris.jpg|16th-century depiction showing the chief
semy of fleur-de-lis File:Blason et ornements ville fr Paris (Empire) revised.svg| Armorial of Paris under the
First Empire File:15 of 'Histoire des Villes de France, avec une introduction générale pour chaque province par A. Guilbert et une Société de Membres de l'Institut, de savants, etc' (11022826443).jpg|1844 depiction (
July Monarchy) File:Blason Ville fr Paris Restauration.svg|Escutcheon of Paris under the
Second Republic File:Charles Meryon, Coat-of-Arms Symbolic of the City of Paris with the motto - It Rocks But Does Not Sink, 1854.jpg|1854 depiction with the mural crown and the motto but without the chief File:Charles Meryon, Coat-of-Arms Symbolizing the City of Paris, 1854.jpg|1854 depiction with the mural crown and the chief but without the motto File:1924 Summer Olympics logo.svg|Coat of arms of Paris in logo of
1924 Summer Olympics File:Blason paris 75.svg|Coat of arms according to the 1942 Commission d'héraldique urbaine de la Seine (Seine's department urban heraldic commission), approved by prefectoral decree of 20 June 1942 ==Motto==