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La Prairie, Quebec (Canada)

Montérégie

image by Ivan Sache, 23 March 2017

The Municipality
The Flag

See also:

The Municipality

The municipality of La Prairie (French, The Meadow; 24,948 inhabitants in 2016; 4,328 ha) is located on the confluence of rivers Saint-Laurent and Saint-Jacques.

La Prairie developed around a mission established in 1667 by the Society of Jesus. Since coexistence with the French colonists proved to be difficult, the Amerindian members of the mission soon moved westwards. A flour mill was erected in 1687; the wooden fence encircling the missions repelled in 1692 an attack by mercenaries from New England. A few years later, a small village emerged around a wooden church.

The population of the village significantly increased in the 18th century; for the sake of security, the village was maintained within the fence, while a stone church was built in 1705. La Prairie became a transit place for commercial exchanges between Montréal and New England; the village was settled by several English-speaking traders following the English conquest in 1760. Increased several times, the fence was eventually deemed obsolete and new houses were built out of the fortified village.

The wealth of La Prairie increased in the 19th century, trade being boosted by steam navigation, which started in 1808. The big blaze that broke out in 1848 and the building of the Victoria Bridge, however, initiated the decline of the town.
http://www.ville.laprairie.qc.ca/ - Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 23 March 2017

The flag

The flag of La Prairie is white with the municipal logo.

Photo: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMP32E_La_Prairie_Qc_Canada

Blue and green represent harmony with the natural environment, calm, new horizons, and the perfect association of water and greenness formed by the river town. The circle formed by the letters "L" is a representation of the propeller of the steamboats than once connected Montréal and La prairie, and of the wheels of the locomotives of the first railway that connected the town and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. The Gothic-inspired font used for letter "L" recalls building in (neo-)Gothic style erected in Old La Prairie more than three centuries ago; inverted, it evokes a modern-designed house and highlights the significance of the residential sector of the town. The wavy lines symbolize river Saint-Laurent.
http://www.ville.laprairie.qc.ca/la-ville.php?ville=5 - Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 23 March 2017