Last modified: 2021-08-07 by rob raeside
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![[Pictou, Nova Scotia]](../images/c/ca-ns-pi.jpg)
contributed by Ted Kaye, 30 July 2021
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A red flag with five white and blue wavy stripes across the bottom, on which sails a ship with a Nova Scotia flag as its sail.
The Town of Pictou (3,437 inhabitants in 2011; 794 ha) is located on the
north shore of Pictou Harbour, 10 km north of New Glasgow. Pictou was named for
"la reviere de Pictou" (modern French, "la rivière de Pictou", Pictou River),
the name given to the harbour by Nicolas Denys, who explored it in the 1660s.
Denys was granted in 1653 rights on a larger area, including Cape Breton Island,
which he could not successfully developed. On 10 June 1767, the "Betsy",
chartered by the Philadelphia Company of Pennsylvania, landed and established
the first settlement in the area; in 1770, 20 people lived in Pictou Township.
On 15 September 1773, the "Hector" brought 189 Scottish immigrants, who founded
the town. Renamed New Paisley in September 1787, Pictou was reestablished under
its original name in 1788.
Pictou is the cradle of the Dawson family.
James Dawson, arrived from Scotland in 1811, was a wealthy shipowner. His son,
Sir (John) William Dawson (1820-1899), born in Pictou, was appointed Nova
Scotia's first Superintendant of Education (1850-1853), and, subsequently,
Professor of Geology and first Principal of McGill University (1855-1893).
Dawson served as the first President of the Royal Society of Canada (1882-1883)
and the President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(1882). Dawson is considered as one of the founders of palaeobotany. His son
George Mercer Dawson (1849-1901), also born in Pictou, was also a geologist and
explorer.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=6059 - Sir John William
Dawson
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6667 - George Mercer
Dawson
http://www.townofpictou.ca/pictou_history.html - Municipal website
The arms of Pictou were originally recorded in the records of the Court of the
Lord Lyon, Edinburgh, Scotland, 6 April 1980. They were subsequently confirmed
on 30 May 2005 by Letters Patented registered on the Public Register of Arms,
Flags and Badges, Vol. IV, p. 495, as announced on 11 June 2005 in the Canada
Gazette, Vol. 139, p. 2,035.
http://archive.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=505 -
Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges
The original record describes
the arms as follows;
"Gules, upon a base undy argent and azure: an ancient
one masted ship in full sail or, its mast flagged of Scotland, the sail
emblazoned of the arms of Nova Scotia: (Argent, on a saltire azure an escutcheon
of the Royal Arms of Scotland) and in dexter chief a mullet or; above the shield
is placed a coronet appropriate to a township: - Argent, embattled and of two
towers all agent port and windows azure; and is escrol below the same this
motto: "As Constant as the Northern Star" by demonstration of which ensigns
armorail the said town is, amongst all Nobles and in All Places of Honour, to be
taken, numbered, accounted and received as an incorporation Noble in the
Nobelese of Scotland".
The arms were designed by R. Mingo Sweeney, a
resident of Pictou, and long-time members of the Heraldry Society of Canada, and
assisted by the Heralds of the Court of the Lord Lyon, Edinburgh, Scotland. The
symbolism of the armorial bearings of the Town of Pictou is depicted in the
following summary.
Arms
The classic ship refers to Pictou's heritage
of the sea, from which came its original settlers and founders. The flag of Nova
Scotia forms the ship's sail. From its mast flies the cross of St. Andrew, the
national flag of Scotland, in recognition of Pictou as the first home of the
Highland Scots who came to Nova Scotia aboard the Hector in 1773, and who
established the Town as the Birthplace of New Scotland. The shield is red,
denoting courage and sacrifice, and the "star of the sea" is the guide that
brings the ship into a safe harbour. The arms are surmounted by a "mural crown"
indicating that Pictou is an incorporated township, and is classified as "Noble"
in the Noblese of Scotland.
Motto: "As constant as the northern star".
http://www.townofpictou.ca/coat_of_arms.html - Municipal website
The
flag, seemingly not registered, appears to be a banner of the municipal arms,
crown and scroll excluded.
Ivan Sache, 2 August 2012