Talk:Métis flag

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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 4 September 2019 and 6 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Mhinc015.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 04:45, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Assessment

I have assessed this as a Stub, as it contains only the basic information on the subject, and of low importance, as it is a highly specific topic within Canada. Cheers, CP 22:42, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Revisions

This page was rewritten by User:70.25.15.163 on 2009-05-27. Given that all of this IP user's contributions (before and after this one) have been vandalism, and given that the revisions removed all wikilinks from the article, and given that there were no references provided for the revised text, I didn't feel comfortable leaving it in the article. I have reverted, but the text of the revised article is pasted here for someone who knows more about this than I do to review. --Transity ^{(talk • contribs)} 20:08, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

The flag was first used by Metis resistance fighters prior to the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816. It is the oldest Canadian patriotic flag indigenous to Canada. The Union Jack and the Royal Standard of New France bearing the fleur-de-lis are older, but these flags were first flown in Europe. As a symbol of nationhood, the Metis flag predates Canada's Maple Leaf flag by about 150 years! The flag bears a horizontal figure eight, or infinity symbol. The infinity symbol represents the coming together of two distinct and vibrant cultures, those of European and indigenous North America, to produce a distinctly new culture, the Metis. The flag symbolizes the creation of a new society with roots in both Aboriginal and European cultures and traditions. The sky blue background of the flag emphasizes the infinity symbol and suggests that the Metis people will exist forever.

The Metis flag has two variants: the more popular blue flag, and the red flag. Nobody knows why the early Metis chose these two colour patterns for their flags. However, conjecture seems to indicate that the Metis created the blue and white infinity flag because these were the colours of the North West Company, the fur trading firm which employed most of the French Michif speaking Metis. The blue Metis infinity flag bears a striking resemblance to the blue and white flag of St. Andrew, the national flag of Scotland. The blue and white colours of the Metis flag are also the traditional colours of French Canada, as seen on the provincial of Quebec. That the creators of the infinity flag may have had some Scottish and French Canadian input when creating their flag is not surprising, because these two groups dominated the North West Company and had the most Metis descendants. However, the flag was uniquely Metis and was recognized as such.

The red Metis flag may have been created by Metis employees of the Hudson's Bay Company. The traditional colours of the fur trade giant were red and white. Neither the blue and white, nor the red and white flag was used by the Metis during the two great resistance movements of 1869-70 and 1885. During this period the Metis used flags which contained French Canadian and Catholic religious symbols. The Metis infinity flag was temporarily forgotten, and remembered only in oral tradition. With the rebirth of Metis pride and consciousness the flag was brought back. Today the flag remains a potent symbol of Metis heritage.

color code?

I was wondering what the color codes were for the flag, I know it may be variable, but I wanted to know one of the color code by example, the RGB 8-bits value, with the help of my digital color meter, the published blue RGB value is R:34; G:51; B:204, White is the full white R:255; G:255; B:255, Red is R:204; G:0; B:0. I find this information may be valuable for other to know as they might want it for learning purposes.

Published on June 11th 2014 8:22pm UTC — Preceding unsigned comment added by GentlyJack1 (talk • contribs) 01:23, 12 June 2014 (UTC)

Additional Flag

https://hallnjean2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/andanother.jpg I don't know how to add flags but this one should be added.

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No historical records on the origin of the flag

There are absolutely no historical contemporary accounts of the flag being given to the Métis by Alexander Macdonell of Greenfield that are currently known. A detailed examination of the origin of the Métis flag is provided by Métis author, lawyer, and historian, Jean Teillet, in collaboration with Métis local president, Dr. Adam McInnes, in their work Métis Nation Infinity Flag Debate – Tracking the Historical Sources – August 2020. In the course of their research, they examined the claim that the flag originated from Macdonell, including reviewing primary and secondary sources, but found no corroborating historical evidence for this version of events, and found potentially conflicting accounts that describe gifts being given to the Métis by the North West Company that do not include a flag among the gifts. Littlejohn657 (talk) 23:56, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Freemasonry

§Design and symbolism included the following sentence (indentation and numbering added):

There might also be a connection to the ouroboros, an ancient symbol that depicts a serpent or dragon eating its own tail, represented either in a circle or figure eight, symbolizing renewal and rebirth

1. (though there is no evidence to support this idea, and the first Masonic lodge to be established in Manitoba was not established until 1864,
2. there is evidence that suggests Masons were present in Fort Prince of Wales in the early 18th Century).

Therefore

1. Since there is no evidence, the whole sentence is irrelevant to the section and the article.
2. Furthermore, since there is no other mention of the Freemasons as a possible source of the ouroboros symbol, and there is no mention of it or the Métis flag in the Freemasonry article or in the reference cited (Young 2005), this statement is doubly irrelevant. See #No historical records on the origin of the flag, above on this page.
3. I am deleting the entire sentence.

References

--Thnidu (talk) 17:23, 23 January 2021 (UTC)

The ouroboros symbol long predates the Freemasons. I have found another Métis source that discusses the symbol as an Ancient Greek symbol on the flag, though it does not specifically mention the name ouroboros. I am restoring the explanation. Littlejohn657 (talk) 19:47, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

Red for hunting or for war?

From §Design and symbolism [bolding added]:

Some argue that the red flag is the Métis Hunting Flag, letting the people around know that they were a hunting party and not at war, and the guide for the day would be the flag-bearer. Due to the potential for skirmishes and battles on the bison hunting trips, such as the Battle of Grand Coteau, the red flag could serve as a standard.

The sections I have bolded are directly contradictory. Furthermore, the last reference, cited in support of the red flag's being a war flag, supports exactly the opposite conclusion. While it is primarily about the "Métis sash", the brief section "Flags" (p.59) consists of a pair of labeled graphics:

• Nation Flag

  (blue flag) Flown on June 19, 1816 at the Battle of Seven Oaks under the leadership of Cuthbert Grant.

• Hunting Flag

  (red flag) During a hunting expedition, the camp flag belonged to the guide of the day.

The quotation in §James Sutherland's accounts of the Métis flag also has the red flag being flown in a peaceful meeting, though it also could indicate that the group flying it intended combat, on the side of the Europeans in the meeting [underlining added]:

Alexander McDonell partner of the N.W.Co. arrived with a great parade of 40 or 50 Canadians, Freemen & Half-Breeds forming two distinct companies. McDonell led one of these consisting of Canadians with the Colours flying the other Company were Half Breeds headed by Cuthbert Grant a Half Breed who has been regularly educated at Canada and has acted for several years as Clerk & still continue to act as such, to the N.W.Co. This Tribe had another Flag hoisted of what nation I know not it is red with a figure of 8 placed horizontally on the middle and it is said to be a present from the N.W.Co. along with some Swords and a few pairs of Pistols to these deluded young men the Half Breeds as a recompence for their exertions against the Colony Spring 1815 and as an incentive to encourage them to further mischief this ensuing season ... [sic]

I am changing the second bolded sentence quoted from §Design and symbolism to refer to the blue flag.

References

--Thnidu (talk) 18:10, 23 January 2021 (UTC)