Flag of Quebec

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Flag of Quebec

The flag of Québec (French: Le Fleurdelisé ) was introduced on January 21, 1948. The flag shows a white cross on a blue background with a white fleur de lys in each of the four quadrants. The official aspect ratio is 2: 3, but there are also flags with the ratio 1: 2. The fleurdelisé is next to the flag of Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province flag, the provincial coat of arms is not shown on the.

The color of the cross comes from the old royal flag of France . Allegedly, when Louis-Joseph de Montcalm won the Battle of Fort Carillon in 1758 , the French-Canadian militia owned a banner with white lilies on a blue field. Contrary to popular belief, the lilies are not taken from the banner of the French kings, as they are shown in gold. The white lilies represent purity and the Virgin Mary .

Flag story

Flag of the Lower Canada Rebels
Carillon flag from 1902

Early on, the French Canadians tried to differentiate themselves from the majority English-speaking population of Canada by using their own symbols. During the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837/38, the insurgents used a flag with green, white and red stripes. In later years the French tricolor was also widely used.

The direct predecessor of today's Fleurdelisé was designed in 1902 by Elphège Filiatrault, the parish priest of Saint-Jude . The flag, known as the carillon , was similar to the current one, except that golden lilies pointed inward from the corners. It was first hoisted on September 26, 1902, but had no official character. Except for the lilies, this was identical to the flag of Greece at the time , but there were no reactions from Greece or Québec to this formality.

In 1947, René Chaloult, an independent member of the Québec National Assembly, called for a new provincial flag to be introduced. It was supposed to replace the unpopular Canadian Red Ensign , as well as the Blue Ensign with the coat of arms of Québec , which had existed since 1868 but was practically never used . René Chaloult, Lionel Groulx and Maurice Duplessis created various designs together. Burroughs Pelletier had designed a few flags nine years earlier, but none of them were adopted. However, Pelletier was involved in the decision-making.

The flag was introduced by the provincial government by decree on January 21, 1948 , but could not be hoisted for the first time until February 2, as it had not yet been sewn. While the government created a fait accompli with the decree, opposition leader Adélard Godbout expressed his approval, as did René Chaloult. On March 9, 1950, the National Assembly finally passed a flag law regulating the use of the provincial flag.

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