Quebec's motto, Je me souviens, is translated from French as "I remember." This is the official motto of the Canadian province of Quebec .
Content
Origin
In 1883, Eugene-Etienne Tachet, assistant commissioner for crown lands in Quebec and the architect of the provincial parliament building, chose the motto, which was then carved in stone under the coat of arms of Quebec , placed above the front door of the parliament building [1] . After that, the motto began to be used officially, although the coat of arms was officially adopted only in 1939 [2] .
The interpretation of the words of the motto, which has become traditional, was first given by the historian Tom Chape in 1895: "We remember the past and its lessons, the past and its troubles, the past and its glory." In 1955, Mason Wade expressed the following opinion: "When the French-Canadian says" Je me souviens ", he remembers not only the times of New France , but also the fact that he belongs to the conquered people."
In 1978, Tachet’s granddaughter, Helen Pack, wrote a letter to the Montreal Star newspaper, stating that the original motto was: “Je me souviens / Que né sous le lys / Je croîs sous la rose” ( I remember that, born under a lily, I grew up under a rose ). Lily and rose are the heraldic symbols of the kings of France and England, respectively. This version became widely known, but in 1992 it was refuted by the historian Gaston Deschen. He found that Eugene-Etienne Tachet did come up with a similar phrase, but it should have been located on the monument to the Canadian nation, which was never built. The monument was to depict Canada as a beautiful young girl, followed by the motto: “Née dans les lis, je grandis dans les roses” ( Born among lilies, I grow among roses ). In a modified version, this phrase was placed in 1908 on a medal dedicated to the centenary of the city of Quebec : “Née sous les lis, Dieu aidant, l'œuvre de Champlain a grandi sous les roses” ( Born under lilies, with God's help, the creation of Champlain grew under the roses ).
The motto “Je me souviens” is present on license plates of vehicles registered in Quebec, on the coat of arms of the province, as well as on the emblem of the 22nd Royal Regiment .
See also
- List of Canadian Provincial and Territory Symbols
Notes
- ↑ Gouvernement du Québec. “ La devise du Québec ”, in the site Drapeau et symboles nationaux of the Government of Quebec, updated January 14, 2008, retrieved August 19, 2008
- ↑ Deschênes, Gaston. “ La devise“ Je me souviens “ ”, in L'Encyclopédie de l'Agora , online since September 14, 2001, updated May 20, 2006, retrieved August 19, 2008