Experts submit proposals for better protection of the Quebec flag

The Quebec Fleur-de-lis provincial flag flies on top of the National Assembly’s main tower, Wednesday, January 18, 2023 in Quebec City. The Fleur-de-lis will celebrate its 75th anniversary on Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

On the 76th anniversary of the Quebec flag, the Quebec Research Institute (IRQ) is proposing a number of solutions to strengthen the "Act respecting the flag and emblems of Quebec," in order to ensure that the flag enjoys "greater respect from citizens and public institutions alike."

IRQ scientific director Guillaume Rousseau and Université de Sherbrooke graduate Amélie Troyas decided to look into the legislation surrounding the Quebec flag when it turned 75 last year.

"We thought it would be a good year, the year of the 75th, to do a study, but before that we had also noted several cases of non-respect for the Quebec flag," said Rousseau, who is also a full professor at the Université de Sherbrooke's Faculty of Law, in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Cases in which the Quebec flag was abnormally large and frayed on public government buildings caught the attention of the two researchers, who wondered whether the law and regulations governing the use of the flag were sufficient.

After comparing Quebec's legislation with that of certain other Canadian provinces and countries around the world, they published a research paper containing several suggestions for amendments to the "Act respecting the flag and emblems of Quebec."

One of them would be to add a section specifying that "all Quebecers are encouraged to fly the Quebec flag proudly" and that "all owners of buildings are encouraged to allow it to be flown."

According to Rousseau, the addition would reduce the risk of situations where landlords prevent their tenants from displaying a Quebec flag outside their dwellings, as has already happened.

"It's difficult to know whether this was some kind of political discrimination or whether it was a general invitation to be modest in the way tenants display their flag. But in any case, it really didn't seem ideal to us," said Rousseau.

Another proposed amendment, this time to the "Regulation respecting the Quebec flag," would stipulate that a flag is "unusable if it is torn, lacerated or if its colours are faded."

Once again, the amendment would address an often-reported problem where a flag that could be described as "finished" continues to sit atop a flagpole for longer than it should.

"It's really one of the big problems we've seen, the frayed or faded flags, so it was really one of the priorities to come up with more precise rules to really ensure that it happens as little as possible," said Rousseau.

Respect and celebrate

As well as showing greater respect for the flag, Rousseau and Troyas believe that the province also needs to take the time to celebrate it. For this reason, they are putting forward the idea that every Jan. 21, all the regional administrations (MRCs) should hold a "public ceremony" to mark its anniversary.

"We think the Quebec flag celebration should be bigger. Some MRCs and towns already do it -- often with newcomers, so it could be a really nice ceremony. But obviously, if it's not compulsory, it won't be done everywhere," said Rousseau. "If we had made it compulsory for every local municipality, there would have been over 1,000 ceremonies. That might have been a bit much, so the MRCs, of which there are about a hundred, seemed realistic to us."

Rousseau reiterated that the proposals put forward in the research paper are suggestions and that, ultimately, it is the national assembly that will decide whether it wishes to give the law more teeth.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 21, 2024.