As to your question regarding why a lion is considered the symbol of Orlais, particularly when the lion is a creature native only to eastern Thedas, the answer is quite simple. It adorns the crest of the Valmonts, the family that has ruled the empire since the end of the Exalted Age, and in truth it is the Valmonts which have come to represent Orlais. Before them, the Orlesian symbol was that of the descendants of Kordillus Drakon: a dragon. —From a letter by Brother Genitivi to Prince Cailan Theirin, 9:20 Dragon