Contrecœur, Quebec (Canada)

Municipalitï¿½ de Contrecœur

image by Ivan Sache, 28 June 2012

See also:

City flag

The Town of Contrecï¿½ur (6,354 inhabitants in 2012; 6,156 ha) is located in Montï¿½rï¿½gie, 40 km east of Montreal. on the south bank of river St. Lawrence.

Contrecï¿½ur was founded in 1667 by Antoine Pï¿½caudy de Contrecï¿½ur (1596-1688), Captain in the Carignan-Saliï¿½res Regiment and first lord of Contrecï¿½ur. The parish register was inaugurated in 1668, this year being proclaimed in 1968 the foundation year of the town. On 29 October 1672, Intendant Jean Talon, representing the King of France, granted Antoine Pï¿½caudy de Contrecï¿½ur a two square league domain; according to the 1681 census, the domain had 69 settlers and 80 acres of productive land. In 1688, the domain of Contrecï¿½ur was inherited by the founder's son, Franï¿½ois-Antoine Pï¿½caudy de Contrecï¿½ur (c. 1676-1743), a brilliant officer made Knight of the Order of Saint-Louis on 25 March 1738; the number of inhabitants rise to 138 in 1706 and 283 in 1739. His son Claude-Pierre Pï¿½caudy de Contrecï¿½ur (1705-1775), also an officer, secured the French position in Ohio and was appointed a member of the Legislative Council short before his death, attending only one meeting; in 1765, the domain of Contrecï¿½ur counted 371 persons, 6,640 acres under cultivation, and 973 animals.
The Sainte-Trinitï¿½ parish was established in November 1832; the local tradition says that the parish was named for Barbe Denys de la Trinitï¿½, Pï¿½caudy's wife and first Dame of Contrecï¿½ur. The Municipality of the Parish of Sainte-Trinitï¿½ de Contrecï¿½ur was founded in 1845, its territory matching the religious parish's territory. The Municipality of the Village of Contrecï¿½ur was eventually founded on 30 April 1902. The two municipalities merged in 1976, being subsequently incorporated in the MRC Marguerite-D'Youville, founded on 1 January 1982. Contrecï¿½ur was granted the status of Town in May 1997.
- http://www.ville.contrecoeur.qc.ca/cgi-bin/index.cgi?page=c4_1&langue=fra - Municipal website
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online:
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=538 - Antoine Pï¿½caudy de Contrecï¿½ur
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=1609 - Franï¿½ois-Antoine Pï¿½caudy de Contrecï¿½ur
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2131 - Claude-Pierre Pï¿½caudy de Contrecï¿½ur

The town uses two flags, one with the municipal coat of arms and one with the municipal logo, on a white field in both flags. They are prescribed in the regulation on the use of the symbols of Contrecï¿½ur, adopted on 18 August 1986.

The flag with the logo shall be used on flags hoisted in the municipal parks and outside the multifunction center. The logo is shaped like a house, recalling the group of houses that form Contrecï¿½ur's early downtown. The white stripe recalls river St. Lawrence, the main source of economical and social expansion of the town. The heart (in French, "cï¿½ur") is the symbol of the pride of the town. The logo also includes letter "C", the initial of the name of the town and its "heart". Garnet red is a reference to the history of Contrecï¿½ur and to the valiant heart of its workers, merchants and inhabitants. Steel gray is a reference to the once and still significant contribution of steel industry* to the development of the town.
- http://www.ville.contrecoeur.qc.ca/cgi-bin/index.cgi?page=c1_4_0 - Municipal website

* The steel factories Sidbec-Docso (today, Mittal) and Stelco (today, Norambar) are among the main employers in the town, once also known for shoe industry.
Ivan Sache, 28 July 2012

Prior Flag

image by Luc Baronian

The flag with the municipal arms shall be hoisted in front of the Town Hall and inside the meeting room of the Municipal Council. The arms of Contrecï¿½ur are "Gules a bend or charged with three hearts of the first surrounded by two bunches of grapes of the second leaved of the same." The shield is surrounded dexter by a lion or and sinister by a griffin of the same, standing on a scroll or inscribed with the town's motto in letters sable "ï¿½ Cï¿½UR VAILLANT TOUT EST POSSIBLE" (To a Valiant Heart Everything Is Possible). The name of the town is written in Gothic-like characters under the scroll. The municipal arms are derived from the family arms of the founders of the town. The shield was inspired by the canting arms of the Pï¿½caudy de Contrecï¿½ur family, "Gules a bend vert charged with three hearts or", a heart being a "cï¿½ur" in French. The grapes are derived from the arms of the arms of the Denys de la Trinitï¿½. The lion and the griffin originally supported the arms of the Pï¿½caudy and Denys families.
- http://www.ville.contrecoeur.qc.ca/cgi-bin/index.cgi?page=c1_4_1 - Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 28 June 2012

Sometimes after June 2007, reports Le Sorel-Tracy Magazine, the Mayor of Contrecï¿½ur offered the municipal flag to two soldiers living in the town on their leave to Afghanistan. A colour photo of the ceremony shows the flag as white in proportions 1:2 with the city's coat of arms in the middle and the writing "Municipalitï¿½ de Contrecoeur" in black "Gothic" letters placed below the arms. Both the motto on the scroll beyond the shield and the aforementioned writing are faultive, with "Contrecoeur" instead of "Contrecï¿½ur". On the motto, moreover, the grave accent on the "A" is missing, too (it should be "ï¿½").

Ivan Sache, 16 April 2009