Quebec's flag is for all of us

Symboles nationaux


"Le fleurdelisé a 60 ans" proclaimed identically both Le Devoir and La Presse yesterday.
Well, not quite. The fleur-de-lis (flower of the lily) is actually thousands of years old, adopted as an emblem by some early civilizations. But it is most notably associated worldwide with pre-revolutionary France - and for us, with Quebec. The fleurdelisé was indeed adopted on Jan. 21, 1948, by Maurice Duplessis's government to "replace the Union Jack."
But over the years, the blue-and-white flag - the Parti Québécois's chosen colours in 1967 were no coincidence - has become an exclusionary symbol, appropriated by sovereignists as a sanctified emblem of the nationalist cause to the exclusion of federalist Quebecers.

It's time to reclaim our flag.
Duplessis's move certainly had a generous backhand dose of "take that, anglos" to it. But it was a legitimate way of redressing a perceived historical injustice, not meant to divide Quebecers between "us" and "them." Flying the maple leaf at a St. Jean Baptiste parade, for instance, is "an outrage and a provocation." Yet fleurdelisés abound - and are welcome - at Canada Day parades.
Those in Quebec who fly both the Maple Leaf and the fleur-de-lis alongside each other have it just right. A flag should be an inclusive symbol above partisan bickering, free of the politics of the moment.
So happy 60th to Quebec's fleur-de-lis. But let it include all of us.

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Symboles nationaux

Jour du drapeau "Synopsis Choqué par l'immobilisme du Québec, le documentariste Hugo Latulippe a décidé de réunir, au printemps 2011, 53 leaders d'opinions afin de leur demander ce qu'ils pensaient du Québec moderne et ce qu'ils espéraient pour le futur. À travers une série de mots ou d'expressions, ces hommes et femmes tentent de tracer les contours d'un nouveau projet de société qui pourrait propulser le Québec dans le troisième millénaire et constituer le moteur et l'aboutissement d'une nouvelle social-démocratie. Tantôt drôles, tantôt cinglants, insolents, indignés ou inspirants, les commentaires se succèdent, avec toujours ce même objectif en tête : redonner au rêve ses lettres de noblesse." ----

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