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Mercier, Quebec (Canada)

Montérégie

Last modified: 2021-02-27 by rob raeside
Keywords: mercier | quebec |
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[Mercier flag] image by Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2021
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Municipality

The municipality of Mercier (13,115 inhabitants in 2016; 4,595 ha) is located 15 km south-west of Montreal.

Mercier was established in the early 19th century as Sainte-Philomène. In the late 1830s, the village was involved in the Patriotes rebellion; two young men of the village were deported to Australia but the village escaped destruction. The local tradition says that the rich merchant John McDonald, who owned mortgage on most houses, negotiated their non-destruction with the British troops.
The parish of Saint-Philomène was canonically erected in 1840; a first Municipal Council, established in 1845, was made official in 1855, with John McDonald as the Mayor.

Saint-Philomène could be acceded only by river Châteauguay until the establishment of the road connecting Sainte-Martine and Sault Saint-Louis (Caughnawaga), and the inauguration of the railway station in 1880. The Mercier bridge, erected in 1934, allowed direct communication with Montreal.
The municipality was renamed to Mercier on 17 August 1968, mostly because the Roman Catholic Church deleted St. Philomena from the sanint's official list. Adopting a more modern name, already used for the road bridge and easy to pronounce in English, was also seen as a means to attract new inhabitants.

https://www.ville.mercier.qc.ca
Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 10 January 2021


The flag

Mercier has a new flag. The date is unknown, but the logo on the flag dates to at least 2014.
https://www.facebook.com/VilledeMercier/photos/a.223150137887150/223150147887149
Here's a photo of the flag from 2016: http://www.1019fm.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/drapeau-ville-mercier.jpg
Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2021

I know that their police service changed their patch around the same time, going to a black and blue emblem.
Dave Fowler, 10 January 2021

The logo is the official coat of arms of the town, which was designed in 1974 by Gilles Charbonneau.

The shield's shape, uniting tradition and modernity, comes from letter "O" in the Melior typeface, which was used for the signature of the town.

In chief, the rose represents absence of pollution, parks and purity. It also recalls that the arms of Antoine Le Moyne de Châteauguay featured three heraldic roses..Here, the rose is stylized to highlight modernism and the evolution of the town, and slightly slanted to express the flower's sensibility.
The two leaves, represented closer to the flower than in real plants, represent the proximity and hospitality of the inhabitants of Mercier.

In the center, the waves represent river Châteauguay that border Mercier and played a key role in the early foundation of the town and colonization of the region.
In base, the double chevron forms letter "M", for "Mercier" and recall the sand dunes located on the municipal territory.

https://histoire-du-quebec.ca/armoiries-mercier
Histoire du Québec
Ivan Sache, 10 January 2021


Previous flag

[Mercier flag] image by Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2021

The previous flag of Mercier is blue with the municipal coat of arms and the name of the municipality below, all in white.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMF3Z5_Drapeaux_de_la_ville_de_Mercier_Qc - Photo contributed to Waymarking, 19 August 2012

The coat of arms of Mercier was designed in 1974 by Gilles Charbonneau. The shape of the shield, both traditional and modern, comes from the letter "O" of the "Melior" font, used for "VILLE DE MERCIER". The rose conveys the idea of a non-polluted place, green environment and purity. It also recalls lord Antoine Le Moyne de Châteauguay, whose arms include three five-petalled roses. The rose is stylized to highlight the modernism and evolution of Mercier, and slightly slanted to express the idea of sensibility associated with the rose. The two leaves are placed closer to each other than on a real rose to highlight the hospitality of the inhabitants of Mercier. The wavy lines represent river Châteauguay that limits Mercier. The river played a significant part in the establishment of the first colonists in the region. The double chevron is a reference to lord Le Mercier, whose arms included a chevron (but only one). It forms a letter "M" for "MERCIER" and recalls the sand dunes located on the municipal territory.
http://www.ville.mercier.qc.ca/01_portrait/symboles.asp - Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 20 March 2013