Quebec revamps its coat of arms, removes British crown

The Quebec government announced Friday that it’s removing the British crown from the province’s official coat of arms, in what it described as a reaffirmation of the province’s autonomy.

Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette and French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said in a news release that removing symbols of the monarchy was a recommendation of a provincially-mandated committee studying constitutional matters.

“The vast majority of Quebecers have no attachment to the British monarchy and reject it,” Jolin-Barrette said in a statement. “In withdrawing the British crown from our official coat of arms, we’re ensuring that Quebec’s institutions and national symbols respect the Quebec population, that they’re modernized and, above all, that they better reflect Quebec’s identity.”

The coat of arms consists of a crown sitting atop a shield featuring three gold fleurs-de-lis, a gold lion — which also represents the British Crown — as well as three green maple leaves. The lion, which is sometimes referred to in French as a leopard, is not being removed.

In 1868, Queen Victoria granted Quebec its official emblem, but the Quebec government says the Tudor-style crown was added in 1939 along with the provincial motto “Je me souviens” — I remember.

Roberge noted that the coat of arms hasn’t been modified in almost 90 years. “Many things have changed since, and the need to turn the page on the monarchy is now very present in Quebec,” he said in the statement.

The ministers noted that Quebec has made other efforts to strip the province of its ties to the monarchy, including no longer requiring new elected legislature members to swear an oath to the King. The province also plans to rename the title of lieutenant-governor to “officer of Quebec.”

The government says the coat of arms will be changed on some official correspondence and eventually on the medals handed out by the lieutenant-governor.

For heritage conservation purposes, the government says any emblems that appear on state buildings or furniture will not be changed.

The government did not immediately respond to a question about how much the changes would cost.

Roberge and Jolin-Barrette’s announcement drew rare praise from Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. He noted it came one day after Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a speech in Quebec City on the Plains of Abraham, where British troops defeated French ones in a pivotal battle for New France in 1759.

The speech has drawn criticism from members of both the governing Coalition Avenir Québec and the PQ over Carney’s characterization of the defeat as the beginning of a “partnership.”

“This action by the CAQ comes, coincidentally, the day after Mark Carney used the plains in Quebec to present the conquest and centuries of colonial domination as a ‘partnership,”‘ St-Pierre Plamondon wrote on social media.

“I commend the coherence of Simon Jolin-Barrette and Jean-Francois Roberge and am delighted by this announcement.”