Last modified: 2021-02-27 by rob raeside
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![[Mercier flag]](../images/c/ca-qcmer.gif)
image by Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2021The municipality of Mercier (13,115 inhabitants in 2016; 4,595 ha) is located
15 km south-west of Montreal.
Mercier was established in the early 19th
century as Sainte-Philomène. In the late 1830s, the village was involved in the
Patriotes rebellion; two young men of the village were deported to Australia but
the village escaped destruction. The local tradition says that the rich merchant
John McDonald, who owned mortgage on most houses, negotiated their
non-destruction with the British troops.
The parish of Saint-Philomène was
canonically erected in 1840; a first Municipal Council, established in 1845, was
made official in 1855, with John McDonald as the Mayor.
Saint-Philomène
could be acceded only by river Châteauguay until the establishment of the road
connecting Sainte-Martine and Sault Saint-Louis (Caughnawaga), and the
inauguration of the railway station in 1880. The Mercier bridge, erected in
1934, allowed direct communication with Montreal.
The municipality was
renamed to Mercier on 17 August 1968, mostly because the Roman Catholic Church
deleted St. Philomena from the sanint's official list. Adopting a more modern
name, already used for the road bridge and easy to pronounce in English, was
also seen as a means to attract new inhabitants.
https://www.ville.mercier.qc.ca
Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 10 January 2021
Mercier has a new flag. The date is unknown, but the logo on the flag dates
to at least 2014.
https://www.facebook.com/VilledeMercier/photos/a.223150137887150/223150147887149
Here's a photo of the flag from 2016:
http://www.1019fm.net/new/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/drapeau-ville-mercier.jpg
Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2021
I know that their police service changed their patch around the same time,
going to a black and blue emblem.
Dave Fowler, 10 January 2021
The logo is the official coat of arms of the town, which was designed in 1974
by Gilles Charbonneau.
The shield's shape, uniting tradition and
modernity, comes from letter "O" in the Melior typeface, which was used for the
signature of the town.
In chief, the rose represents absence of
pollution, parks and purity. It also recalls that the arms of Antoine Le Moyne
de Châteauguay featured three heraldic roses..Here, the rose is stylized to
highlight modernism and the evolution of the town, and slightly slanted to
express the flower's sensibility.
The two leaves, represented closer to the
flower than in real plants, represent the proximity and hospitality of the
inhabitants of Mercier.
In the center, the waves represent river
Châteauguay that border Mercier and played a key role in the early foundation of
the town and colonization of the region.
In base, the double chevron forms
letter "M", for "Mercier" and recall the sand dunes located on the municipal
territory.
https://histoire-du-quebec.ca/armoiries-mercier
Histoire du Québec
Ivan Sache, 10 January 2021
![[Mercier flag]](../images/c/ca-qcmer-o.gif)
image by Masao Okazaki, 10 January 2021
The previous flag of
Mercier is blue with the municipal coat of arms and the name of the municipality
below, all in white.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMF3Z5_Drapeaux_de_la_ville_de_Mercier_Qc
- Photo contributed to Waymarking, 19 August 2012
The coat of arms of
Mercier was designed in 1974 by Gilles Charbonneau. The shape of the shield,
both traditional and modern, comes from the letter "O" of the "Melior" font,
used for "VILLE DE MERCIER". The rose conveys the idea of a non-polluted place,
green environment and purity. It also recalls lord Antoine Le Moyne de
Châteauguay, whose arms include three five-petalled roses. The rose is stylized
to highlight the modernism and evolution of Mercier, and slightly slanted to
express the idea of sensibility associated with the rose. The two leaves are
placed closer to each other than on a real rose to highlight the hospitality of
the inhabitants of Mercier. The wavy lines represent river Châteauguay that
limits Mercier. The river played a significant part in the establishment of the
first colonists in the region. The double chevron is a reference to lord Le
Mercier, whose arms included a chevron (but only one). It forms a letter "M" for
"MERCIER" and recalls the sand dunes located on the municipal territory.
http://www.ville.mercier.qc.ca/01_portrait/symboles.asp - Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 20 March 2013
