In 1535, King Francis I of France awarded a new coat of arms to Nîmes; it represents a crocodile chained to a palm tree. The model was a Roman coin, the As de Nîmes, minted to commemorated Augustus' victory at the battle of Actium in Egypt in 31 BC.

In 1989, plastic sculptor Martial Raysse staged the coat of arms of Nimes... but here, the crocodile of the fountain is not attached to its palm tree…