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A stylised fish-like dolphin, drawn arched with a spiny crest.
The heraldic dolphin looks almost nothing like the animal: it is drawn as an arched fish with a spiny dorsal crest, scales and a fierce head. It gave its name to the Dauphin, the heir to the French throne.
A dolphin drawn to heraldic convention as a strongly arched fish with a spiny dorsal crest, scaled body and open mouth — bearing little resemblance to the living animal.
Borne in the arms of the province of Dauphiné, from which the heir to the French throne took the title Dauphin.
France
A strongly curved fish-like figure with a spiny ridged fin along its back, a scaled body and an open mouth with a blunt snout.