The flag of Quebec (), called the in French, represents the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. It consists of a white

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

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 Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, during the administration of Maurice Duplessis. Legislation governing its usage was enacted on March 9, 1950. Quebec's

Flag Day A flag day is a flag-related holiday, a day designated for flying a certain flag (such as a national flag) or a day set aside to celebrate a historical event such as a nation's adoption of its flag. Flag days are usually codified in national s ...

(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 () on the flag of Quebec.

Symbolism

The takes its white cross over a blue field from certain French flags of the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

, 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; such banners were carried by Canadian colonial militia in the 18th century. The fleurs-de-lis, as a symbol has often been associated with France, specifically the

. 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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

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 (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, 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 Kingdom of Great Br ...

. 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 The National Flag of Canada (), popularly referred to as The Maple Leaf or l'Unifolié (), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in which is featured one stylized, red, 11-pointed maple leaf Charge (hera ...

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 293. In

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data bu ...

RGB, 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

The desire of ethnic

French Canadians French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the provi ...

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), as well as the French tricolour. The direct predecessor of the modern was created by Elphège Filiatrault, a parish priest in Saint-Jude, Quebec. Called the , it resembles the modern flag except that the fleurs-de-lis are 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 Saint-Hyacinthe ( , ) 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 Montérégie regi ...

, Quebec. Another version, with the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

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 British ensign that may be used on vessels by certain authorised yacht clubs, Royal Research Ships and British merchant vessels whose master holds a commission in the Royal Naval Reserve or has otherwise been issued a wa ...

red ensign The Red Ensign or Red Duster is the civil ensign of the United Kingdom. It is one of the British ensigns, and it is used either plain or defacement (flag), defaced with either a Glossary of vexillology#Flag elements, badge or a Glossary of v ...

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

in the canton, and the Quebec coat of arms in the fly). However, such ensigns were never used — various sources including the official Quebec government site mention that it was the

that flew over the Parliament Building until January 21, 1948, not a blue or red ensign. In addition, in 1938, at the opening of a mining school in Val-d'Or, 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, demanded a new provincial flag to displace the unpopular (amongst some segment of the population of Quebec) Union Jack and Canadian Red Ensign. Various ideas were discussed between Chaloult, Lionel Groulx and Maurice Duplessis. One such idea involved incorporating a red maple leaf (later to be adopted for the flag of Canada). 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 Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

) 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 ('' ...

, and the news was presented to the Legislative Assembly more or less as a . Opposition leader Adélard Godbout expressed his approval, as did 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 study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith, and others. Its membership of 1,100+ comprises flag s ...

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, behind the flags of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

respectively. 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 bears 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 Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons ...

city coat of arms and the Spanish Morcín 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 (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

, which included the same shade of 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.

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

In French

* "", in the site of the Government of Quebec, updated on January 14, 2008 * . uébec, Qué. , 2001. ''N.B''.: Imprint and date appear on a sticker at the end of the document. * Bouvier, Luc. "", in ''HeraldicAmerica'' (first published in in 1994 and in 1996) * Tremblay, Joël and Gaudreau, Serge.
21 janvier 1948 – Adoption par l'Assemblée législative du fleurdelisé comme drapeau officiel du Québec
, in ''Bilan du siècle'', , May 18, 2005 * Bureau de normalisation du Québec (2004). , Sainte-Foy, 24 pages * Gouvernement du Québec (1998). , Québec: , 23 pages * Bizier, Hélène-Andrée, Claude Paulette, , Montréal : Art global, 1997, 152 pages * Robitaille, René (August 1983). , Québec: , 34 pages * Archambault, Jacques et Eugénie Lévesque, , Québec: , 1974, 78 pages * BnQ (1973). , * Magnan, Charles-Joseph (1939). , Québec : , 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 {{Portal bar, Heraldry, History, Canada Q Provincial symbols of Quebec

Blue and white flags