The flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé, was adopted by the provincial government of Maurice Duplessis and first flown on January 21, 1948, at the National Assembly in Quebec City.
The Fleurdelisé takes its fleurs de lis from the banner of the king of France, and its blue field and white cross from the ancient national flag of the same country.
The desire of French-Canadians in the province for a distinctive flag is an old one. Other flags that had been used included the Patriotes flag, a horizontal green, white, and red tricolor, which became the flag of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste; as well as the French tricolor.
The direct predecessor of the modern Fleurdelisé was created by Elphège Filiatrault, a parish priest in Saint-Jude, Quebec. Called the Carillon, it resembled the modern flag except that the fleurs de lis were at the corners pointing inward. It was based on an earlier flag with no cross and with the figure of the Virgin Mary in the centre; this flag had been flown at Louis-Joseph de Montcalm's victory at Carillon (now Ticonderoga, New York).
The Carillon flag was first raised on September 26, 1902, and is preserved in the Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec archives.
Another version, with the Sacred Heart in the centre, also appeared, but was left behind in the push for a new provincial flag after World War II. In 1947, an independent member of the legislative assembly, René Chaloult, demanded a new provincial flag to replace the unpopular Red Ensign in the province, but Premier Duplessis preempted him by choosing the fleurdelisé as the new provincial flag.
The flag, with the fleurs de lis repositioned to their modern configuration in correspondence with the rules of heraldry, was officially adopted by the legislature on March 9, 1950.
The flag is blazoned Azure, a cross between four fleurs de lis argent.
The flag's official ratio is 2:3, but the flag is very often seen as a 1:2 variant to match the flag of Canada in size when flying together.
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