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Saint-Boniface, Quebec (Canada)

Maskinongé RCM

image by Olivier Touzeau, 4 November 2019

The municipality
The flag

See also:

The Municipality

The municipality of Saint-Boniface (4,800 inhabitants, 112 km²).
Formerly, before 2003, Saint-Boniface-de-Shawinigan.
Olivier Touzeau, 4 November 2019

Flag

White flag with coat-of-arms and the words "MUNICIPALITE" above and "SAINT-BONIFACE" below.
The same flag can be seen in front of the seat of the municipality: https://www.google.com/maps/@46.5034148,-72.8302227,3a,75y,265.86h,106.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sv5aV376H4CI1sVdbiY5IDw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Olivier Touzeau, 4 November 2019

The arms of Saint-Boniface are "Argent a chevron gules surrounded in chief by two crosses trefoiled of the same and in base by an oak vert fructed pr. The shield surrounded by two branches of maple leaved vert crossed in base in saltire and tied by a ribbon gules holding a scroll argent inscribed 'TOUT POUR LE BIEN, RIEN POUR LE MAL' [Everything for Good, Nothing for Evil].

The field argent recalls the purity of the ancestors and their commitment to work. Argent also represents the Shawinigan waterfall. The chevron is taken from the family arms of His Grace Thomas Cooke (1792-1870), first bishop of Trois-Rivières (1852-1870). The crosses of Saint Maurice indicate that Saint-Boniface is located in Saint-Maurice County. The oak symbolizes the pioneers' generosity and determination. The oak is also the symbol of the patron saint, St. Boniface, apostle of Germany.
https://municipalitesaint-boniface.ca/index.php/armoiries/
Municipal website

Thomas Cooke's chevron recalls the role of the bishop in the foundation of the village.
The bishop commissioned in 1852 Joseph-Élie-Sylvestre Sirois-Duplessis, parish priest of Saint-Barnabé, to select a place to erect a cross. A chapel was erected next year, where the priest celebrated a first mass. Vicar René-Alfred Noiseux, from Trois-Rivières, was appointed parish priest of Saint-Boniface in 1855.
In 1857, the bishop had to settle the dispute between the inhabitants of different parts of the settlement, who all wanted the church to be built nearby (at the time, new settlements quickly increased close to the new churches). The parish of Saint-Boniface de Shawénégan was canonically erected on 3 February 1859.
https://municipalitesaint-boniface.ca/index.php/armoiries/une-page-dhistoire-de-saint-boniface/
Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 16 November 2019