Blue Flag White Cross Stars: The province of Quebec is represented by the Fleurdelisé flag, which means “lily-flowered” in French. A white cross on blue background with four white fleurs-de-lis in the middle of it. It was first flown on January 21, 1948, at the Parliament Building in Quebec City, during the Administration of Maurice Duplessis, as Canada’s first official provincial flag.
Status: Article 2 of the Québec Flag and Emblems Act grants the flag of Quebec the title of “national emblem” in French. On March 9, 1950, legislation was passed to regulate its use. For a time, Quebec’s Flag Day (January 21) was celebrated in May, but it has since been moved to January 21.
Symbolism
A ship’s flag: French flags, such as the French naval flag and the French merchant flag, inspired the Fleurdelisé’s white cross. There is a banner that honors the Virgin Mary, and the white fleurs de lis and blue field (symbolizing purity and heaven) are taken from it. The flag is blazoned Azure, a cross between four fleurs-de-lis argent. Its horizontal symmetry allows both sides of the flag to show the same picture.
Flag of the Bourbon Republic
Throughout New France, the “Bourbon flag” or “royal banner of France” was the most often used symbol of the country. As well as on the French naval flag, this banner features three gold fleurs-de-lis on a dark blue background (ordered two and one).
Protocole
Although the flag’s official ratio is 2:3 (width to length), many people prefer to fly the flag in a 1:2 ratio in order to match the flag of Canada in size. For the purposes of this act, Quebec’s flag and symbol have priority over all other flags and emblems. The Canadian flag, on the other hand, has precedence over the American flag when both are flown. Pantone 293 is the official shade of blue. The 8-bit RGB color code for this is #003399. There are many unofficial variations that use a lighter shade of blue.
Display in a Vertical Orientation: There must always be a canton (top left quarter; canton d’honneur) on the left.
History
French Canadians in Quebec have long desired their own flag. The Parti Patriote flag (a horizontal green, white, and red tricolor, which became the banner of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society) and the French tricolor were also used. Elphège Filiatrault, a parish priest in Saint-Jude, Quebec, is credited with inventing the contemporary Fleurdelisé.
The gold fleurs-de-lis are situated at the corners and point inward on the Carillon, France’s national flag. Based on an earlier flag with no cross and a depiction of the Virgin Mary at its center. On September 26, 1902, the Carillon flag was raised for the first time and is now kept in the Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec archives. There is a second version of the flag, which had the Sacred Heart in the centre, but it was left behind in the rush for a new provincial flag following WWII. There was no official protocol for using the Carillon flags.
A coat of arms was approved by Queen Victoria on May 26, 1868, for the Canadian province of Quebec. The arms could have been used to deface a blue ensign to create a flag (a Union Flag in the canton, and the Quebec coat of arms in the fly). Even though the blue ensign was never deployed, numerous sources, including the official Quebec government site, state that the Union Flag flew over Parliament until January 21, 1948, not the blue ensign Additional information:
In 1938, when Val-first d’Or’s mining school was opened, a banner of arms was used to represent the Quebec government. Burroughs Pelletier, a public servant who had been advised that the Ministry desired a symbol but was unclear of what to use, requested that this be done.
New Flag Was Adopted on January 21
René Chaloult, an independent member of the Legislative Assembly, proposed a new provincial flag in 1947 to replace the ailing Quebec blue ensign with the unpopular (among some Quebecers) Canadian Red Ensign. Chaloult, Lionel Groulx, and Maurice Duplessis explored a variety of topics. A crimson maple leaf might be used as an example of such a notion (later to be adopted for the flag of Canada). Duplessis requested Burroughs Pelletier to propose a few ideas, none of which were accepted. However, he was consulted on the final design.
The new flag was adopted on January 21, 1948, and flown over the Parliament Building that same day. Because the present Fleurdelisé flag wasn’t ready until February 2, it appears that the Carillon flag was flown that day, as the fleurs-de-lis were shifted to their modern position in accordance with heraldry standards. As a result of an order-in-council decision and a brief announcement in Parliament, the flag was adopted. René Chaloult and opposition leader Adélard Godbout both expressed their appreciation. On March 9, 1950, the Quebec Parliament passed a law governing the use of the flag. In 2002, a newer version of this law was passed.
Fleurdelisé was rated the greatest provincial or territory flag by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) in 2001, and the third-best flag in the United States and Canada as a whole. Similarly, the flag of Quebec is often displayed in both private homes and commercial establishments. Similarly, the coat of arms of the French city of Châlons-en-Champagne and the municipal flag of Morcón, Spain, bears a striking resemblance to the flag of Quebec. They were inspired by their home state of Quebec, which is represented by the fleurs-de-lis in blue and white stripes on their jerseys.
Standardisation of Design
There are blue key lines around each of the five equal stars on today’s standard Eureka Flag, which differs from the specimen’s original design. It is commonly prepared in a 20:13 ratio. The stars of the Southern Cross constellation are featured on the Eureka Flag, which is more visible in the southern hemisphere. The constellations are not aligned in the same way as they would be if the Southern Cross were visible. The constellation’s “middle” star (Epsilon Crucis) is off-center and close to the “diamond’s” edge. Instead, the white cross on the Eureka Flag has a star in the center.
Eureka banners were flown by other organizations
Two women, Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Oliver, who claimed to have embroidered a starry flag at the time, but “they could not certainly identify it as the one flown at Eureka” were discovered by William Withers in the late nineteenth century.
Thomas Kennedy reportedly took down the Eureka Flag at sundown on December 2nd, 1854, and stowed it in his tent “for safe keeping,” according to John Wilson. As a result, it was already soaring above the stockade when government forces arrived the next morning. It is clear that Frank Cayley believes Wilson’s flag was one of many that were manufactured in Eureka. It’s possible that the diggers in Ballarat had smaller (and different) replicas of the Eureka flag.
As has been suggested by his Melbourne journalist colleague and fellow Eureka investigator, Len Fox. Robert McCandlish “unbuttoned his coat and took out and unfurled a light blue flag with some stars on it, but there was no cross on it” when he met with police officer John McNeil at Bakery Hill, according to Withers.
