France, the homeland of all heraldry, and especially the system of ecclesiastical heraldry, was in the immediate past, at least heraldically, a wasteland. Very few prelates used any form of arms, and did not display the insignia of office. The situation, is not however, new. Following the Revolution, for a time prelates did not use arms and only after the Napoleonic stabilisation did the practice being again.
The last few years have seen the beginnings of a renewal and bishops are again ufing arms. The examples of the two Archbishops of Lyon and are both strong arms. Cardinal Billé (fig. 124) even use arms in per fess with is own emblem in base and Cardinal Barbarin (fig. 125) uses a canting coat.
Fig. 124 : Louis-Marie Cardinal Billé, Archbishop of Lyon & Primate of France, 1998. Laurent Granier.
Fig. 125 : Philippe Cardinal Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon & Primate of France, 2002. Laurent Granier.
