This article needs to be updated.(September 2017) |
Coat of arms of Montreal | |
---|---|
Versions | |
Armiger | City of Montreal |
Adopted | 21 March 1938 13 September 2017 |
Crest | A beaver couchant on a log proper |
Shield | Argent on a cross nowy Gules a white pine tree eradicated Or between in the first quarter a fleur-de-lis Azure, in the second quarter a rose, in the third quarter a thistle and in the fourth quarter a shamrock proper |
Motto | Concordia Salus (Latin for "salvation through harmony") |
The first coat of arms of Montreal was designed by Jacques Viger, the first mayor of Montreal, and adopted in 1833 by the city councillors. [1] Modifications were made some one hundred five years later and adopted on 21 March 1938, and again on 13 September 2017, resulting in the version currently in use. The coat of arms was the only city emblem representing Montreal until 1981, when a stylized logo was developed for common daily use, reserving the coat of arms for ceremonial occasions. [1]
The first coat of arms was displayed on a white shield, which had a red saltire with four different charges between the arms, representative of the four main components of the population as viewed by Mayor Jacques Viger and the city council in 1833, when the arms were designed and adopted. [1] To the top, a rose was for the English heritage of the population, the dexter a thistle for the Scots, the sinister a sprig of clover for the Irish heritage of the city, and to the bottom base a beaver for the French who originally settled the territory and traded in furs.
The blazon of the shield in the first coat of arms was as follows: Argent, a saltire gules between in chief a rose of the last leaved and slipped, in base a beaver to the dexter with a branch, and in fess a thistle leaved and slipped and a sprig of shamrock proper. [2] The motto on the scroll below the shield is Concordia Salus, a Latin phrase translated as "salvation through harmony" [3] or in French as "le salut par la concorde".
In 1938, the city council requested that the arms be updated to better reflect Montreal's population. The changes replaced the saltire with a cross, which is reminiscent of both the St. George's Cross often associated with England, and also with Christian missionary missions that could represent the principles of the French Catholics that founded the city. [1] The beaver had become a general symbol of Montreal and its industriousness by this time period, and no longer merely represented the original French settlers, thus it was moved to ensign the shield. In place of the beaver on the shield, a blue fleur de lys was added to symbolize the descendants of the original French settlers. [1] The rose, thistle and clover remained. The shield was surrounded by a wreath of sugar maple leaves to symbolize the amicable relations between the various elements of Montreal's population and an allusion to the maple as a national emblem of Canada. [1] The Latin motto was retained.
In 2017, the city council decided to add a symbol representing the Indigenous Peoples, a white pine in a circle on the middle of the cross. [4]
The Canadian Heraldic Authority granted the current version of the coat of arms in September 2017. [3] The blazon of the arms is as follows:
This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2017) |
The five flora designs found upon the shield are traditional national symbols in their own right, with each one alluding to a specific historical device used by a state or nation. [1]
A fleur de lys. | The Red Rose of Lancaster. | A trefoil or shamrock. | A thistle. | A white pine. |
The Fleur-de-lis has long used by the French royal houses, such as the House of Bourbon, in their coat of arms and was found upon the national flag of the French during the time Montreal was founded, and was also used as a mark of honour or favour by the King of France. The first European settlers in possession of the Island of Montreal hailed from France, and thus are represented by this symbol.
The Red Rose of Lancaster was used as a symbol of the English Royal House of Lancaster, and has become a symbol of the English people as well.
Traditionally known as a trefoil, the shamrock was a symbol to early Irish Christians of the trinity. It has endured to become a symbol of the Irish people.
Found in various folklore of the Scots since Roman times, the thistle has also been long used in the compartment of the Scottish royal coat of arms, and has been symbolic of the Scottish people long before heraldry.
The white pine symbolizes the Indigenous Peoples and stands for Peace and Harmony. It also represents the Circle of Life and the council fire – a place for meeting and dialogue for the First Nations. [4]
In 1981, with an attempt to modernize the city's use of such emblems, Montreal introduced a logo for common municipal use, while the coat of arms would be reserved for the most formal of ceremonies and events. [1] The device consists of the city's name with accent mark as found with the French spelling and a stylized rosette that is itself composed of four hearts. Officially, the type is to be in black and the rosette in red, but a few variations exist for printing purposes when the set colours would not contrast well on documents. [5]
Greater Montreal attempted to unify the City of Montreal with the other eighty-one surrounding municipalities under one logo in 2006. The logo that was introduced consisted of a stylized 'M' meant to look, as the design firm put it, "deliberately chubby, very welcoming, like a comfy chair." [6] However, the logo received much negative criticism for its "patchwork of hot pink, tangerine, rhubarb, turquoise and green apple", [6] that was viewed as childish in implement and likened to clown paint, Smarties, jelly beans, garbage and even vomit. Public sentiment grew increasingly negative when it was discovered the cost of the ill-received design was $1,487,000 paid out from the public fund. [6] Montreal itself continues to use the 1981 logo, and even Greater Montreal has since dropped the design they themselves introduced. [7]
The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys, is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily. Most notably, the fleur-de-lis (⚜️) is depicted on the traditional coat of arms of France that was used from the High Middle Ages until the French Revolution in 1792, and then again in brief periods in the 19th century. This design still represents France and the House of Bourbon in the form of marshalling in the arms of Spain, Quebec, and Canada — for example.
The coat of arms of Canada, also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada or, formally, as the Arms of His Majesty The King in Right of Canada, is the arms of dominion of the Canadian monarch and, thus, also the official coat of arms of Canada. In use since 1921, it is closely modelled after the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, with French and distinctive Canadian elements replacing or added to those derived from the British version.
A shamrock is a type of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name shamrock comes from Irish seamróg, which is the diminutive of the Irish word seamair and simply means "young clover".
The flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé in French, represents the Canadian province of Quebec. It consists of a white cross on a blue background, with four white fleurs-de-lis.
The coat of arms of Prince Edward Island, officially the King's Arms in Right of Prince Edward Island, are the coat of arms of Prince Edward Island, being the arms of King Charles III in right of the province. They were created when the shield and motto in the achievement were granted in 1905 by royal warrant from King Edward VII. The latest iteration was given by the Canadian Heraldic Authority in 2002.
A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French sautoir, Medieval Latin saltatoria ("stirrup").
The coat of arms of Nova Scotia is the heraldic symbol representing the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is the oldest provincial achievement of arms in Canada, and the oldest British coat of arms in use outside Great Britain. It is blazoned as follows: Argent, a saltire azure charged with an escutcheon of the Royal Arms of Scotland.
The coat of arms of Manitoba is the heraldic symbol representing the Canadian province of Manitoba. The arms contains symbols reflecting Manitoba's British heritage along with local symbols. At the upper part of the shield is the red cross of St. George, representing England. On the left, the unicorn represents Scotland. The lower portion of the shield features a bison standing atop a rock on a green background, a symbol of First Nations peoples of the area who derived food and clothing from the animal.
The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and provincial laws within Montreal, Quebec. The mayor is directly elected by citizens, by a plurality of votes, for a four-year term. The mayor's office is located in Montreal City Hall.
The coat of arms of France is an unofficial emblem of the French Republic. It depicts a lictor's fasces upon branches of laurel and oak, as well as a ribbon bearing the national motto of Liberté, égalité, fraternité. The full achievement includes the star and grand collar of the Legion of Honour. This composition was created in 1905 by heraldic painter-engraver Maurice de Meyère, and it has been used at the Foreign Ministry during state visits and for presidential inaugurations.
The Red Rose of Lancaster was the heraldic badge adopted by the royal House of Lancaster in the 14th century. In modern times it symbolises the county of Lancashire. The exact species or cultivar which it represents is thought to be Rosa gallica officinalis.
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon (shield). That may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object, building, or other device. In French blazon, the ordinaries are called pièces, and other charges are called meubles.
A cross pattée, cross patty or Pate, or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée or Templar cross, is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight line shape, to be broader at the perimeter. The form appears very early in medieval art, for example in a metalwork treasure binding given to Monza Cathedral by Lombard queen Theodelinda, and the 8th-century lower cover of the Lindau Gospels in the Morgan Library. An early English example from the start of the age of heraldry proper is found in the arms of Baron Berkeley.
First displayed in May 1935, Montreal based its flag on the city's coat of arms. It was revised in May 1939 and again in September 2017. The flag's proportions are 1:2 in a symmetric cross.
The coat of arms of Scotland, colloquially called the Lion Rampant, is the coat of arms historically used as arms of dominion by the monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland, and later used within the coat of arms of Great Britain and the present coat of arms of the United Kingdom. The arms consist of a red lion surrounded by a red double border decorated with fleurs-de-lis, all on a gold background. The blazon, or heraldic description, is: Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory-counter-flory of the second.
The coat of arms Quebec city is the heraldic symbol representing the city of Quebec City.
A national coat of arms is a symbol which denotes an independent state in the form of a heraldic achievement. While a national flag is usually used by the population at large and is flown outside and on ships, a national coat of arms is normally considered a symbol of the government or the head of state personally and tends to be used in print, on armorial ware, and as a wall decoration in official buildings. The royal arms of a monarchy, which may be identical to the national arms, are sometimes described as arms of dominion or arms of sovereignty.
The coat of arms of Marseille has witnessed its existence since the 14th century. The current version was adopted in 1883.
The coat of arms of Lyon, the ancient capital of the Gauls, reflects the rich history of the city across different periods of its existence and the power that has exercised authority over the city. It was created in 1320, although the current version, which dates from 1859, reprises the form that it had before the end of the Ancien Régime after having undergone several temporary modifications.
The coat of arms of McGill University is the official emblem of the university and derives from a heraldic device assumed during the lifetime of the university's founder, James McGill. The first iteration was designed in 1906 by Percy Nobbs, then director of the McGill School of Architecture. The design subsequently varied for decades after until the university's current coat of arms, largely resembling the original design, was finally adopted by the Board of Governors in 1975. Today, the university has approved multiple logos across its faculties and departments, including a separate coat of arms used by the Macdonald Campus.