Dry compass, 1750

An early France dry marine compass suspended in a gimbal system with two sighting vanes.
On ancient maps and compasses, the North was usually depicted at the top of the compass rose by a heraldic fleur-de-lis. This symbol may have been chosen by the makers of Neapolitan compasses and compasses in reference to the House of Anjou (King of France) to which the kingdom of Sicily and Naples belonged in the 13th century. In addition, the east, which was the direction of Jerusalem, the holy city of the Christians, was enhanced with a more or less stylised cross.