flies

Queen of Flies

Parva Sub Ingenti

Queen of Flies

The small beneath the great. A fly adorns her brooch—she wears humility as ornament.

A fly adorns her brooch — parva sub ingenti, the small beneath the great. She wears humility as ornament, making lowliness a jewel.

The Queen of Flies has chosen her sigil deliberately. Where other queens display eagles or lions, she pins a fly to her breast. The message is not modesty but sovereignty over a different domain.

Her greatness includes the small. Her attention misses nothing, however insignificant it appears.

Source: Paradin, Devises Héroïques, 1557, p. 83