Franco-Ontarian flag
Encyclopedia
The Franco-Ontarian flag consists of two bands of green and white. The left portion has a solid light green background with a white fleur-de-lys in the middle, while the right portion has a solid white background with a stylized green trillium
Trillium
Trillium is a genus of about 40–50 species of spring ephemeral perennials, native to temperate regions of North America and Asia....

 in the middle. The green represents the summer months, while the white represents the winter months. The trillium is the floral symbol of Ontario, while the fleur-de-lys represents the French-Canadian heritage of the Franco-Ontarian community. The green color on the flag is Pantone
Pantone
Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System , a proprietary color space...

 349, in RGB (0,99,56).

The flag was created in 1975 by Gaétan Gervais, history professor and Michel Dupuis, first year political science student, both from Laurentian University. It was officially recognized as the emblem of the Franco-Ontarian community in the Franco-Ontarian Emblem Act of 2001.

Ironically, in 2003 a controversy arose in Sudbury when the city government voted against flying the flag at Tom Davies Square
Tom Davies Square
Tom Davies Square is the city hall of Greater Sudbury, Ontario.Built in the 1970s and formerly known as Civic Square, the building was part of an urban renewal movement toward transforming the city's visual image by investing in more distinctive and modern architecture...

 for St-Jean-Baptiste Day, claiming that it would be inappropriate for the city government to display on public property a symbol representative of only a portion of the city's population. In 2006, new mayor John Rodriguez
John Rodriguez
John R. Rodriguez is a Canadian politician. He served as the mayor of Greater Sudbury, Ontario from 2006 to 2010, and previously represented the electoral district of Nickel Belt in the Canadian House of Commons from 1972 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1993 as a member of the New Democratic...

 reversed that decision, permitting the flag to be flown, but was again criticized by some voters for acting unilaterally.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Franco-Ontarian flag in September 2005, Prise de parole
Prise de parole
Prise de parole is a Canadian book publishing company.Located in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, the company publishes Franco-Ontarian literature...

, a Sudbury-based publishing house, published a book titled Le Drapeau franco-ontarien (edited by Guy Gaudreau, a history professor at Laurentian University.)

On September 25, 2006, the largest Franco-Ontarian flag was unfurled in Ottawa. The historical park, also known as Les Monuments de la francophonie d'Ottawa, was built by the francophone community to commemorate francophone contribution in the development and well being of the City of Ottawa. This first of six Monuments de la francophonie d'Ottawa is dedicated to the subject of education. The flag is 5 x 10 m and was raised on a 27 m pole.

External sources

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