Last modified: 2021-12-31 by rob raeside
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![[City of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier (Quebec - Canada)]](../images/c/ca-qcsgc.gif)
image
by Ivan Sache, 9 July 2019
The municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier (3,382 inhabitants in 2016;
44,117 ha) is located in the northern part of the Quebec Urban Community, 25 km
from Quebec downtown, and 15 km north-east from Shannon, the capital of MRC La
Jacques-Cartier.
Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier was settled in 1812 by
European colonists, who built a road connecting river Jacques-Cartier (178 km,
tributary of the Saint-Lawrence) to Loretteville. In 1815, four businessmen from
Quebec, John Neilson, Andrew Stuart, Louis Moquin and Nicholas Vincent,
purchased several plots from he Society of Jesus and organized the colonization
of the area. John Neilson called for the establishment of a durable farmers'
settlement equipped with schools and other services. The churches reflect the
diversity of the first settlers: St. Andrews church (Scottish Presbyterian,
1843); Christ Church (Anglican, 1863), St. Gabriel Church (Roman Catholic, 1852,
increased in 1911), keeping the oldest altar in Quebec Diocese, designed around
1770 by François-Noël Levasseur; and St. Andrews church (United Church of
Canada, 1926).
The today's municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier
was established in October 1985 as the merger of the former municipalities of
Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier and Saint-Gabriel Ouest, which had been established
on 18 May 1861 as the splitting of the old municipality of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier,
erected in 1845.
http://saint-gabriel-de-valcartier.ca/
Municipal website
The flag
of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, designed in 2018, is in proportions 1:2,
vertically divided (1:2:1) green-white-green with thin golden-yellow stripes
separating the green and white fields, and the municipal logo in the center.
http://saint-gabriel-de-valcartier.ca/municipalite/%e2%80%a2devise-logos-armoiries/
Municipal website
The logo represents the characteristic elements of the
local landscape: the mountains, the forest, the farmland, and the river. The
tree trunk divided in two, symbolizes the two languages, forming a one and only
tree, the municipality. The logo reflects the bilingual municipal motto, created
in 2005 by Louise Verret, "Ensemble, au cœur de la nature, Together, in the
heart of nature".
http://saint-gabriel-de-valcartier.ca/upload/saint-gabriel-de-valcartier/editor/asset/Logo%20et%20description.pdf
Municipal website
Image from the municipal website:
http://saint-gabriel-de-valcartier.ca/municipalite/%e2%80%a2devise-logos-armoiries/
Ivan Sache, 9 July 2019
![[City of Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier (Quebec - Canada)]](../images/c/ca-qc-sgdv.gif)
image located by Dave Fowler, 24 December 2021
based on
https://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/public-register/project/3358
Municipalité de Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, Quebec
Grant of Arms,
Supporters and Flag
September 15, 2021
Vol. VIII, p. 19
Blazon
Vert a winged sextant, on a pile Or a Bowen knot interlaced with an annulus
Vert;
Symbolism
Green and gold are the municipality’s emblematic
colours. Green symbolizes nature, while gold represents sunny days, alluding to
Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier as a place of abundant natural beauty and a
desirable community in which to live. The triangle evokes both its geographic
location, in the valley of the Jacques-Cartier River, and the letter V, the
first letter in Valcartier, referring to the name of the municipality and that
of the Canadian Forces base situated in the municipality and related to its
identity. The loop and ring forming a compass rose is a Celtic knot that
symbolizes harmony and travel. It represents the community spirit of the
municipality, the exploration that led to its founding, and the Irish and
Scottish immigrants who settled there in the 19th century. The cross formed by
the quadruple loop also recalls that its land belonged to the Jesuits before it
was acquired by four Québec businessmen. The wings embody the Archangel Gabriel
and the sextant, exploration and, by extension, the explorer Jacques Cartier,
after whom the river and the municipality were named. The wings also allude to
poultry farming, a major regional economic driver.
Dave Fowler, 24
December 2021