Flag of Quebec - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé, was adopted for the province by the government of Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, during the administration of Maurice Duplessis

Maurice Duplessis

Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...

. It was the first provincial flag officially adopted in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, first shown on January 21, 1948, at the Parliament Building of the National Assembly in Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

. Quebec's Flag Day

Flag Day

A flag day is a flag-related holiday—either a day designated for flying a certain flag , or a day set aside to celebrate a historical event such as a nation's adoption of its flag....

—January 21—commemorates its adoption each year, though for some time it was celebrated in May. At least one parade marked the flag's 60th anniversary in January 2008.

Status

Article 2 of An Act respecting the flag and emblems of Québec confers the status of "national emblem" to the flag of Québec.

Symbolism

The fleurdelisé takes its white cross from the ancient royal flags of France and its white fleurs-de-lis

Fleur-de-lis

The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...

and blue field from a banner honouring the Virgin Mary reputedly carried by French-Canadian militia at General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War .Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family, and entered military service...

's victory at Carillon (now Ticonderoga, New York

Ticonderoga, New York

Ticonderoga is a town in Essex County, New York, USA. The population was 5,167 at the 2000 census. The name comes from the Mohawk tekontaró:ken, meaning "it is at the junction of two waterways"....

). Contrary to popular belief, the fleurs-de-lis are not taken from the banner of the kings of France, who used golden fleurs-de-lis. The white fleurs-de-lis on Quebec's flag are symbols of purity, which originally represented the Virgin Mary.
The flag is blazon

Blazon

In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...

ed Azure, a cross between four fleurs-de-lis argent.

Protocol

The flag's official ratio is 2:3 (width to length), but the flag is very often seen as a 1:2 variant to match the flag of Canada

Flag of Canada

The national flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf, and , is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted in Canada to replace the Union Flag...

in size when flying together.

The Act concerning the flag and emblems of Quebec states that "in all cases, the flag of Quebec has precedence over any other flag or emblem." Presumably, this would include the flag of Canada

Flag of Canada

, which, under federal protocol, takes precedence when both are flown.

History

The desire of French Canadians in Quebec for a distinctive flag is an old one. Other flags that had been used included the Parti Patriote
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion , commonly referred to as the Patriots' War by Quebeckers, is the name given to the armed conflict between the rebels of Lower Canada and the British colonial power of that province...

flag, a horizontal green, white, and red tricolour

Tricolour

A tricolour is a flag or banner more-or-less equally divided into three bands of differing colours...

, which became the flag of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society

The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec Sovereignism. Its current President is Mario Beaulieu....

; as well as the French tricolour

Flag of France

The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured royal blue , white, and red...

.

The direct predecessor of the modern fleurdelisé was created by Elphège Filiatrault, a parish priest in Saint-Jude, Quebec

Saint-Jude, Quebec

Saint-Jude is a municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada in the Regional County Municipality of Les Maskoutains. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 1,130.-Population:Population trend-Language:Mother tongue language ...

. Called the Carillon, it resembled the modern flag except that the fleurs-de-lis were at the corners pointing inward. It was based on an earlier flag with no cross and with the figure of the Virgin Mary in the centre.

The Carillon flag was first raised on September 26, 1902, and is preserved in the Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec

Saint-Hyacinthe is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 55,823. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie region, and is traversed by the Yamaska River which flows...

archives. Another version, with the Sacred Heart

Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of His divine love for Humanity....

in the centre, also appeared, but was left behind in the push for a new provincial flag after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The Carillon flags were used informally.

On May 26, 1868, Queen Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

approved Quebec's first coat of arms

Coat of arms of Quebec

The coat of arms of Quebec was adopted by order-in-council of the Quebec government on 9 December 1939, replacing the arms assigned by royal warrant of Queen Victoria on 26 May 1868.The shield is divided into three horizontal fields:...

. A flag might have been devised by using the arms to deface a blue ensign

Blue Ensign

The Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain, or defaced with a badge or other emblem....

(a Union Flag

Union Flag

The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...

in the canton

Flag terminology

Flag terminology is a jargon used in vexillology, the study of flags, to describe precisely the parts, patterns, and other attributes of flags and their display.-Description of standard flag parts and terms:...

, and the Quebec coat of arms in the fly

Flag terminology

). However, it appears to have never been used — various sources including the official Quebec government site mention that it was the Union Flag

Union Flag

that flew over the Parliament Building

Parliament Building (Quebec)

The Parliament Building is an eight-floor building and home to the Parliament of Quebec in Quebec City. The building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché and was built from 1877 to 1886. With the frontal tower, the building stands at 52 metres or 171 feet in height...

until January 21, 1948, not the blue ensign. In addition, in 1938, at the opening of a mining school in Val-d'Or, the flag used to represent the Quebec government was a banner of arms. This was done at the behest of public servant Burroughs Pelletier, who had been told that the Ministry wanted a symbol but were unsure as to what should be used.

In 1947, an independent member of the Legislative Assembly, René Chaloult

René Chaloult

René Chaloult was a nationalist politician in Quebec, Canada.-Political career:Chaloult first won a seat to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec as a Union Nationale candidate in the 1936 election in the district of Kamouraska...

, demanded a new provincial flag to displace the unpopular (amongst some segment of the population of Quebec) Canadian Red Ensign

Canadian Red Ensign

The Canadian Red Ensign is the former flag of Canada, used by the federal government though it was never adopted as official by the Parliament of Canada. It is a British Red Ensign, featuring the Union Flag in the canton, defaced with the shield of the Coat of Arms of Canada.-History:The Red Ensign...

and replace the unpopular and completely unused Quebec blue ensign in the province. Various ideas were discussed between Chaloult, Lionel Groulx

Lionel Groulx

Lionel-Adolphe Groulx was a Roman Catholic priest, historian and Quebec nationalist. -Early life and ordination:Groulx was born at Chenaux, Quebec, Canada, the son of a farmer and lumberjack, and died in Vaudreuil, Quebec. After his seminary training and studies in Europe, he taught at Valleyfield...

, and Maurice Duplessis

Maurice Duplessis

. One such idea involved incorporating a red maple leaf (later to be adopted for the flag of Canada

Flag of Canada

). Burroughs Pelletier was also asked to present a few projects to Duplessis, none of which were adopted. He was however asked to give advice as to what he thought about what became the current design.

On January 21, 1948, the new flag was adopted and was flown over the Parliament Building that very afternoon. Apparently, it was the Carillon flag that flew that day, because the modern fleurdelisé (with the fleurs-de-lis repositioned upright to their modern configuration in correspondence with the rules of heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

) was not available until February 2.

The flag was adopted by Royal Proclamation, and the news was presented to the Legislative Assembly more or less as a fait accompli. Opposition leader Adélard Godbout

Adélard Godbout

Joseph-Adélard Godbout was an agronomist and politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as the 15th Premier of Quebec briefly in 1936, and again from 1939 to 1944. He was also leader of the Parti Libéral du Québec .-Youth and early career:Adélard Godbout was born in Saint-Éloi...

expressed his approval, as did René Chaloult. A law governing the usage of the flag was later officially adopted by the Quebec Parliament on March 9, 1950. A more recent version of such a law was adopted in 2002.

A 2001 survey by the North American Vexillological Association

North American Vexillological Association

The North American Vexillological Association is a membership organization devoted to "vexillology as the scientific study of flags." Flag researchers, designers, collectors, activists, merchants, and other enthusiasts from the United States and Canada meet annually at NAVA meetings in order to...

ranked the fleurdelisé as the best provincial or territorial flag, and the third-best of the flags of all U.S. and Canadian provinces, territories, and states.

The flag of Quebec was the basis for the jerseys of the Quebec Nordiques

Quebec Nordiques

The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League...

, which included the same colour blue, the fleur-de-lis, and white stripes.

External links

Flag History of Quebec
Proposals for a flag of Quebec, 1900–1902
Proposals for a flag of Quebec, 1903–1904 Various versions of the Carillon flag

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Status

Symbolism

Protocol

History

See also

In English

In French

External links