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Châteauguay, Quebec (Canada)

Montérégie

image by Village of Wendake contributed by Marc Pasquin, 21 February 2007

The Flag

See also:

City flag

In a picture of the St-Patrick parade in Montreal you can see a white flag with arms behind the Châteauguay banner. Looking at the official city website it seem to be the same arms.
Marc Pasquin, 9 April 2007

The City of Châteauguay (45,648 inhabitants in 2010; 3,537 ha) is located south-west of Montreal.

Châteauguay was granted on 29 September 1673 by the Count of Frontenac, Governor of New France, to Charles Le Moyne (1626-1685), already lord of Longueil. In 1683, the lord built a fortified manor ("chasteau"; old form of "château", "a castle") on the St. Bernard Island, then the heart of the domain; the manor was inhabited by two families and six other people. According to the historian Léon Laberge, the name of Châteauguay is of French origin - there is a municipality called Châteauguay in Auvergne.

From 1685 onwards, the mainland neighbouring the St. Bernard Island was settled. The subsequent development of the domain has to be credited to the Order of the Sisters of Charity, founded in 1737 by St. Marguerite d'Youville (1701-1771), better known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal. The nuns purchased Châteauguay in 1765 and owned it until 1854, when the feudal system was abolished. They founded a college and a bakery, and promoted the cultivation of the fertile domain. The masoned tower standing on the island belonged to a wind mill built in 1686-1690, one of the oldest in North America. The Battle of the Châteauguay [river] was fought on 26 October 1813 on the banks of river Châteauguay, in a strategic place located 50 km south-west of Montreal and closed to the American border. Colonel Charles-Michel de Salaberry led a troop of 300 soldiers who repelled the American troops attempting to invade Lower-Canada. During the Patriot's insurrection (1836-1838), Narcisse Cardinal and Joseph Duquette took all the ammunition from the general store owned in Châteauguay by John McDonald and captured as many loyalists as they could; betrayed by the Iroquois, the two patriots were hanged in Montreal.

Châteauguay emerged as an urban center in the early 20th century. In 1912, the part of the village known as "basin" formed Châteauguay-Ville; in the 1960s, the Parish of St. Joachim de Châteauguay formed the City of Châteauguay-Centre. The two communities merged in 1975 to form the today's City of Châteauguay.
- http://ville.chateauguay.qc.ca/historique - Municipal website

Châteauguay's local hero is Kim Saint-Pierre (b. 1978), member of the Canadian women’s hockey team (goaltender) since 1998. She participated in three Olympic Games and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist (2002, 2006, 2010). She competed in nine World Championships and won gold five times.
http://www.kimstpierre.com - Official website
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUJ1-IfZ2dM - KSP interviewed (French)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpbgUNeAN3E - KSP interview (English)

The arms of Châteauguay are "Argent a chevron gules charged with a maple leaf surrounded by two cinquefoils all of the first in base a windmill proper terraced vert a chief azure wavy argent charged with a garb of wheat or a fleur-de-lis argent and a steering wheel of the same. The shield surmounted by a mural crown or. Under the shield, a scroll or inscribed with the motto in letters sable "UNITA FORTIOR". The chevrons are a symbol of protection, recalling that Châteauguay emerged as a fortified outpost. The cinquefoils come from the arms of Charles Le Moyne ("Azure three cinquefoils or 2 + 1 a chief gules a crescent or surrounded by two stars of the same") and from English arms. The windmill represents the St. Bernard Island. The chief wavy represents rivers Châteauguay and St. Lawrence, as well as Lake St. Louis. The wings of the mill form a cross recalling Marguerite d'Youville and a cross erected on a road, involved in historical events in 1838. The wheat garb and the steering wheel represent the resources of the land and movement, respectively. The maple leaf, the fleur-de-lis and the mural crown represent the three hierarchical levels of government. The motto, meaning "Stronger Through Unity", recalls that today's Châteauguay was formed by the merging of three former municipalities.
- http://ville.chateauguay.qc.ca/armoiries - Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 29 July 2012