Fleur-de-Lys and the Compass Rose

I was looking at pictures of compass roses today and began to wonder why the fleur-de-lys is so often used as a symbol for North.

Scouting around on the internet (the fleur-de-lys is also the scouting symbol), I read, "In the earliest charts, north is indicated by a spearhead above the letter T (for tramontana--meaning North wind). This symbol evolved into a fleur-de-lys around the time of Columbus, and was first seen on Portuguese maps." (source)

That's quite an evolution.

I have a feeling that there has to be more to know about how this symbol came to represent the cardinal north.

Comments

[jason]

images?

[Tracy Rolling]

Oops. Sorry about that. I added something to the post. My bad! I for some reason thought that every person on Earth knew what a fleur de lys looks like.

[zeevveez]

Hi,
You wrote: I have a feeling that there has to be more to know about how this symbol "came to represent the cardinal north."
The Fleur de Lis (Lilium Candidum, lily) has from above the exact shape of the Star of David. That's why in Jewish tradition it represents the six directions. However, why and how did it start representing the North, which is only one of the six directions? I think that it has to do with the THREE MAGI (also known as: Three Wise Men, Three Kings, or Kings from the east) who were guided to the house of Jesus in Beth-Lehem by a star (the pole-star?)