In the late 1800s it became acceptable to refer to the erect-eared dog as a Papillon (French for “butterfly”) because it resembled the wings of a butterfly, and the facial markings, particularly the blaze, resembled the insect’s body. The drop-eared type was called a phalene, or “night moth”.

*quote taken from the Papillon Club of America website

If you’d like to read even more about Papillons we recommend visiting the club website at https://papillonclub.org/