The Carillon banner is 213 cm wide and 307 cm long on a very pale green background that is probably blue, like fleur-de-lis. He floated for the first time at the Battle of Carillon in 1758, which Montcalm won. Journalist and historian Dave Noël separates the true from the false about this flag.
Its origin is beyond doubt: “It was actually a flag that came from 18at century. […] We have the coat of arms of Beauharnois on the flag, we also have the symbol of the Madonna, so the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus, which is in the center of the flag, and in the four corners, we have fleur-de-lys pointing in the middle “, explains the historian.
However, it is difficult to determine the original color of the Carillon banner. It has long been believed to be blue, but it will be more white or pale yellow. This flag was restored in the 1990s, despite irrevocable parts.
He appeared in public for the first time on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Quebec City in 1848, when lawyer Louis de Gonzague Baillairgé advanced him during the parade. Newspapers of the time reported this flag among others. According to Louis de Gonzague Baillairgé, a father of the Récollets would have brought him back from the battle on the Plain of Abraham and would have placed him in the church of the Récollets in Quebec. It would have been hung in the church vault until 1796 and miraculously saved from fire.
In 1858, for the centenary of the Battle of Carillon, Octave Crémazie wrote a poem that introduced the flag to other parts of Canada and even to France.
Carillon later inspired the priest Elphège Filiatrault, who designed Quebec’s first flag. He kept the fleur-de-lys of Carillon and adopted the blue background he believed was original. Seeing the growing enthusiasm of French Canadians for this work, Maurice Duplessis made the fleur-de-lis flag of Quebec in 1948.
For Dave Noël, the Carillon banner says a lot about the search for French Canadians after the British occupation, until the mid -20s.at century. “I discovered that this flag witnessed a turbulent history and the evolution of Quebec. […] It’s a flag that has evolved and is now anchored in the scene and no longer really questioned. “
Source: Radio-Canada
