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Oka, Quebec (Canada)

Laurentides Region

image by Ivan Sache, 20 March 2013

Description of the flag

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Description of the flag

The municipality of Oka (4,678 inhabitants in 2006; 6,721 ha) is located in MRC Deux-Montagnes, Region Laurentides.

Oka was founded in 1721 as Mission du Lac des Deux-Montagnes. The domain of Lac des Deux-Montagnes was granted by the King of France to the Society of Saint-Sulpice. The Sulpicians erected in 1740-1742 the Oka Calvary to evangelize the natives. Made of four oratories and three chapels, the Oka Calvary was in the 19th century the most important place of pilgrimage in the region of Montreal. The festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross attracted in 1889 some 30,000 pilgrims. The Notre-Dame du Lac Abbey was founded in 1881 by Trappist monks and closed on 28 February 2009. The monks established the Oka Agricultural Institute, subsequently made a Faculty of Agriculture affiliated to the University of Montreal, and the School of Veterinary Medicine. The famous hen "Chantecler", registered in 1921, was bred by the monks, who also produced the Oka cheese, now manufactured by the Agropur dairy cooperative. When the local post office was inaugurated in 1867, the name of Mission du Lac des Deux-Montagnes, deemed too long, was changed for Oka, a tribute to the Algonquin chief Paul Oka ("Golden Fish"). The Municipality of Oka, established in 1874, was divided in 1917 into the Municipality of Partie Nord de l'Annonciation d'Oka, renamed in 1977 Municipality of the Parish of Oka, and into the Municipality of the Village of Oka. The two entities were reunited in 1989 to form the Municipality of Oka.
http://www.municipalite.oka.qc.ca - Municipal website

The flag of Oka is white with the municipal coat of arms in the middle. The arms are "Per fess, 1. Azure a fish or two mounts proper ensigned dexter with an abbey argent sinister with a star of the same, 2b. Vert a grab or, 2b. Gules a fleur-de-lis or.

The landscape represents the two mounts that are the namesake of the lake. THe dexter mount is surmounted by the three chapels of the Oka Calvary. The golden fish (in Algonquin, "oka") makes the arms canting. The garb represents agriculture while the fleur-de-lis represents history.

Image prepared after a photo was contributed on 20 September 2012 to Waymarking http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMFAMH_Le_drapeau_dOka_Qc
Ivan Sache, 20 March 2013