The Iris

For centuries, the banks of the Senne were a wild, marshy landscape. The river flowed slowly through low-lying lands, where water accumulated in countless pools and wetlands. On this damp soil thrived a rich plant life.

The yellow iris, with its distinctive golden flowers, thrived in this wet environment. The plant loved to stand with its roots in the water, and every spring it would turn the marshes golden.

For the people who lived here, the iris was far more than just a flower. It was a sign of the landscape itself, of home, of the raw and untamed land from which their city would emerge.

According to medieval tradition, Saint Wodan, an early patron of the city, is said to have been inspired by the iris. When he sought a symbol for young Brussels – a city that grew against all odds on marshy, muddy ground – he looked to the flowers along the Senne.

The iris, with its elegance amid wild growth, seemed to him the perfect emblem. Not only was it a strong and resilient plant, but it also represented beauty born from simple things.

Thus the iris became the face of Brussels: steadfast, elegant, and intimately connected to the water from which the city had emerged.

Over the course of the Middle Ages, the iris became a permanent part of Brussels’ heraldic heritage. It appears on the city’s coat of arms, where it stands alongside the Saint George cross in gold and blue.

Brussels merchants and craftsmen wore the iris with pride. It was not merely a flower, but a statement: this is Brussels, founded on the Senne, on water and mud, and on the enduring beauty of simple things.

The symbolism of the iris also stood for other values: loyalty, dignity, and the unbroken bond between a people and their land.

As Brussels grew from a small village into a thriving city, the landscape transformed. The marshes were drained, the Senne was channeled, and natural flowers gave way to streets and buildings.

Yet the iris never truly disappeared. It lived on in the collective memory of Brussels, in the coat of arms, in books and stories of how a city could grow from water and mud.

Today, more than seven centuries later, the iris still stands as a symbol of Brussels’ heritage – a reminder of its origins, of the water, and of the beauty that has endured beneath the city’s stone.