The flag of Acadia is a symbolic flag representing the

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the desc ...

community of

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 to ...

. It was adopted on 15 August 1884, at the Second Acadian National Convention held in Miscouche,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, by nearly 5,000

delegates from across the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of C ...

. It was designed by Father Marcel-Francois Richard, a priest from Saint-Louis-de-Kent,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. The Musée Acadien at the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian francophone university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on highe ...

has the original flag presented by Father William to the 1884 Convention. It was sewn by Marie Babineau. According to Perry Biddiscombe:

The Tricolour represents the Motherland of the Acadians. The yellow star, the Stella Maris, is the symbol of Mary, Acadian national symbol and patron of the mariners. It is set on the blue stripe, because blue is the colour of Mary. The yellow colour of the star represents the Papacy.

Design

Father Richard selected the French flag as the basis of the Acadian one to underline the adherence of the Acadians to the French civilization:

I wish that Acadia had a flag reminding not only that its children are French, but also that they are Acadians

Father Richard saw the star in the blue band as "the distinctive emblem of our Acadian nationality", representing the star of the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption, patron of the Acadians. The star also represented the starfish that guides the sailor "through storms and reefs". The gold colour of the star was chosen by Father Richard because it is the colour of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, in order to show both the adherence of the Acadians to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the role of the Church in the

history of Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and earl ...

. The flag's creation was an important part of the Acadian Renaissance, and its final design reflects the political and religious considerations of that period.Biddiscombe, Perry. “Le tricolour et l’étoile: The Origin of the Acadian National Flag, 1867-1912,” Acadiensis 20, no. 1 (1990). Republished in P.A. Buckner, Gail Campbell, David Frank, eds., The Acadiensis Reader: Atlantic Canada after Confederation (1999). DF https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/download/12343/13190/

Sources

External links

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation On-line
{{Acadia

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and earl ...

Acadia Acadian culture

Design

See also

Sources

External links