 Roman myth has it that Venus , the goddess of love , was born in the sea and emerged accompanied by fish and dolphins , with Botticelli depicting her as arriving in a scallop shell . The Romans revered her and erected shrines in her honour in their gardens , praying to her to provide water and verdant growth . From this , the scallop and other bivalve shells came to be used as a symbol for fertility . Its depiction is used in architecture , furniture and fabric design and it is the logo of Royal Dutch Shell , the global oil and gas company . 
