The flag of Quebec, called the (), represents the Canadian province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. It consists of a white

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

on a blue background, with four white fleurs-de-lis. It was the first provincial flag officially adopted in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and was originally shown on January 21, 1948, at the Parliament Building in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

, during the administration of

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A conservative, nationalist, anti-Communist, anti-unionist and fervent Catholic, he and hi ...

. Legislation governing its usage was enacted on March 9, 1950. Quebec's Flag Day (January 21) commemorates its adoption each year, although for some time it was celebrated in May.

Status

Article 2 of the ''Act respecting the flag and emblems of Québec'' confers the status of

national emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state or multi-national state as a symbol of that nation. Many nations have a seal or emblem in addition to a national flag A national flag is a flag that represents ...

(french: link=no, emblème national) on the flag of Quebec.

Symbolism

The takes its white cross from certain French flags of the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

, namely the French naval flag as well as the French merchant flag. Its white fleurs-de-lis (symbolizing purity) and blue field (symbolizing heaven) come from a banner honouring

the Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother ...

; such banners were carried by Quebecker troops in the 18th century. The flag is

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. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vi ...

ed ''Azure, a cross between four fleurs-de-lis argent''. Its horizontal symmetry allows both sides of the flag to show the same image.

Bourbon flag

The royal banner of France or "Bourbon flag" was the first and most commonly used flag in

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

. The banner has three gold fleurs-de-lis on a dark blue field (arranged two and one), and it was also present on the French naval flag. File:Naval Flag of the Kingdom of France (Civil Ensign).svg, Naval flag of the

File:Royal Flag of France.svg, The royal banner of France or "Bourbon flag"

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 in size when flying together. The ''Act respecting the flag and emblems of Québec'' states that "in all cases, the flag of Quebec has precedence over any other flag or emblem." However, under federal protocol, the Canadian flag takes precedence when both are flown. The official shade of blue is

Pantone Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is a limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, notably graphi ...

293. In 8-bit

RGB The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three addi ...

, it is #003399. Unofficial variants using a lighter blue are common.

Vertical display

The canton (; top left quarter) must always be to the viewer's left.

History

Flag of the Patriote movement (Lower Canada)

The desire of Quebecers for a distinctive flag was longstanding. Other flags that had been used included the flag (a horizontal green, white and red tricolour, which became the flag of the

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (french: Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic asso ...

), as well as the French tricolour. The direct predecessor of the modern was created by Elphège Filiatrault, a parish priest in

Saint-Jude, Quebec Saint-Jude is a municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, cover ...

. Called the , it resembles the modern flag except that the fleurs-de-lis are golden and located 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 it is preserved in the archives of

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Saint-Hyacinthe (; French: ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montér� ...

. Another version, with the Sacred Heart in the centre, also appeared, but it was left behind in the push for a new provincial flag after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The ''Carillon'' flags were used informally. On May 26, 1868,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

approved Quebec's first coat of arms. A flag might have been devised by using the arms to deface a

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

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

in the canton, and the Quebec coat of arms in the fly). However, it appears to have never been used — various sources including the official Quebec government site mention that it was the Union Flag that flew over the Parliament Building until January 21, 1948, not the blue ensign. In addition, in 1938, at the opening of a mining school in

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or (, , ; "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the Canada 2021 Census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye Wildlife ...

, 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 (January 26, 1901 – December 20, 1978) was a nationalist politician in Quebec, Canada. Background He was born on January 26, 1901, in Quebec City. Political career Chaloult first won a seat to the Legislative Assembly of ...

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

Canadian Red Ensign The Canadian Red Ensign (french: Enseigne Rouge Canadienne ) served as a nautical flag and civil ensign for Canada from 1892 to 1965, and later as the ''de facto'' flag of Canada before 1965. The flag is a British red ensign, with the Royal Un ...

and to replace the neglected Quebec blue ensign. Various ideas were discussed between Chaloult,

Lionel Groulx Lionel Groulx (; 13 January 1878 – 23 May 1967) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, historian, and Quebec nationalist. Biography Early life and ordination Lionel Groulx, né Joseph Adolphe Lyonel Groulx, the son of a farmer and lumber ...

and

. One such idea involved incorporating a red maple leaf (later to be adopted for the flag of Canada). Burroughs Pelletier was also asked to present a few proposals to Duplessis, none of which were adopted. He was however consulted about what became the present 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 (with the fleurs-de-lis repositioned upright to their modern configuration in correspondence with the rules of heraldry) was not available until February 2. The flag was adopted by

order-in-council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

, and the news was presented to the Legislative Assembly more or less as a . Opposition leader

Adélard Godbout Joseph-Adélard Godbout (September 24, 1892 – September 18, 1956) was a Canadian agronomist and politician. He served as the 15th premier of Quebec briefly in 1936, and again from 1939 to 1944. He served as leader of the Parti Libéral du Qu ...

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 The North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith (1940–2016), and others. It ...

(NAVA) ranked the as the best provincial or territorial flag, and the third-best of the flags of all U.S. and Canadian provinces, territories and states. Likewise, the flag is highly popular in Quebec, and it is often seen displayed at many private residences and commercial buildings. The flag of Quebec has a close resemblance to both the French

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the department of Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renam ...

city coat of arms and the Spanish

Morcín Morcín is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Santo Adriano and Ribera de Arriba, on the east by Ribera and Mieres, on the south by Riosa on the west by Quirós. Pa ...

municipality flag, which use similar (though unrelated) designs but with differing colours. The flag of Quebec was the basis for the jerseys of the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

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

Notes

References

In English

* ANQ.
An Act respecting the Flag and emblems of Québec
, in ''CanLII''. Federation of Law Societies of Canada, Updated to 1 May 2008 * MRIQ.
Québec flag protocol
, in the site of the ''Ministère des Relations internationales'', 2006 * Fraser, Alistair B.

, i
''The Flags of Canada''
January 30, 1998

In French

* Gouvernement du Québec.

", in the site ''Drapeau et symboles nationaux'' of the Government of Québec, updated on January 14, 2008 * ''Le Drapeau national: historique et protocole d'utilisation''. uébec, Qué. Relations avec les citoyens et immigration, Gouvernement du Québec, 2001. ''N.B''.: Imprint and date appear on a sticker at end of the document. * Bouvier, Luc.
Histoire des drapeaux québécois: du tricolore canadien au fleurdelisé québécois
", i
''HeraldicAmerica''
(first published in ''l'Héraldique au Canada'' in 1994 and ''L'Action nationale'' in 1996) * Tremblay, Joël and Gaudreau, Serge.

, in ttp://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/ ''Bilan du siècle''

Université de Sherbrooke The University of Sherbrooke (French: Université de Sherbrooke) (UdS) is a large public French-language university in Quebec, Canada with campuses located in Sherbrooke and Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal approximately west of Sherbrooke. It i ...

, May 18, 2005 * Bureau de normalisation du Québec (2004). ''Drapeau du Québec'', Sainte-Foy: Bureau de normalisation du Québec, 24 pages * Gouvernement du Québec (1998). ''Le cinquantième anniversaire du fleurdelisé'', Québec: Commission de la Capitale nationale du Québec, 23 pages * Bizier, Hélène-Andrée, Claude Paulette, ''Fleur de lys : d'hier à aujourd'hui'', Montréal : Art global, 1997, 152 pages * Robitaille, René (August 1983). ''Le Drapeau de Carillon réalité historique ou légende'', Québec: Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Québec, 34 pages * Archambault, Jacques et Eugénie Lévesque, ''Le Drapeau québécois'', Québec: Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1974, 78 pages * BnQ (1973). ''Bibliographie sur le drapeau du Québec: le fleurdelysé'', Bibliothèque nationale du Québec (Centre bibliographique) * Magnan, Charles-Joseph (1939).
Le Carillon-Sacré-Coeur, drapeau national des Canadiens français
', Québec : l'Action catholique, 44 pages (edition digitized by the BAnQ)

External links

*
Proposals for a flag of Quebec, 1900–1902

(various versions of the ''Carillon'' flag)
Arms and flag of Quebec
in the online Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges {{CanadaFlags Q Provincial symbols of Quebec