The flag itself was designed by Gaétan Gervais, professor of history at Laurentian University and Michel Dupuis, one of Gervais’ students, conceived the project with a group of students including Jacqueline England, who sewed the flag, Yves Tassé, Normand Rainville and Don Obonsawin.
It was raised for the first time on September 25, 1975 at the University of Sudbury and officially recognized by the Government of Ontario as the symbol of the Francophone community in 2001.
The City of Greater Sudbury permanently raised the Franco-Ontarian flag on December 1, 2006 in front of the Provincial Building at City Hall and on June 24, 2019, the flag was permanently raised in the central courtyard of Greater Sudbury City Hall, alongside the flags of Canada, Ontario and the City of Greater Sudbury, and since then has been permanently raised in other parts of the city, such as the A.Y. Jackson Lookout and the Flour Mill Museum.
On September 21, 2020, the Ontario government unanimously passed a bill making the Franco-Ontarian flag an official emblem of Ontario.
The day has a different feel this year for many in the francophone community, however, as the fight for a standalone and independent francophone university continues in the wake of Laurentian’s decision to part ways with federated universities operating on campus.
You can read more about the fallout from the Laurentian University insolvency and the effects on Francophone students here.***
Isabelle Bourgeault-Tassé, an accomplished writer and the daughter of Yves Tassé, was part of a September 21 panel hosted by Réseau du patrimoine franco-ontarien discussing the origins of the flag and the history of the francophones in Ontario.
She told Sudbury.com she often quotes her father when asked about the history of the flag. “The flag no longer belongs to its creators, but to the Franco-Ontarian community,” she said, reciting her father’s words. “The symbol the Franco-Ontarian flag incarnates is the spirit of our communities, our voices rising in a powerful chorus to ensure the promising future of our communities.”
The flag, green for Ontario’s summers and white for its winters, has the fleur-de-lis to represent the place of Franco-Ontarians within the global Francophonie population; it also has the fleur-de-trille (Trillium), the official flower of Ontario, on one side to identify their roots in this province.
Wearing green and white to mark the day has become part of the celebrations.
All schools in Ontario’s 12 French-language school boards, including students and staff from CSC Nouvelon elementary and secondary schools, will unite on Friday, Sept. 24, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., to celebrate Franco-Ontarian Day, virtually. The live broadcast will take place at mondrapeaufranco.ca and can be viewed until October 1.
The presentation will be held at the Studio l’Excentricité at Collège La Cité, which will act as a large virtual stadium for performances by a collective of artists, comedians, singers, videographers, dancers. The detailed program and show is available here.
A traditional flag raising will also occur at the University of Sudbury, but will once again be virtual. In collaboration with l'ACFO du grand Sudbury, the 46th annual raising of the Franco-Ontarian flag will be held on Saturday, Sept. 25, at 11 a.m. The flag-raising will also be shown live on the University of Sudbury Facebook page.
"The Franco-Ontarian flag is the unifying symbol of a diverse community that actively contributes to the economic and cultural development of our society,” University president Serge Miville told Sudbury.com. “That the first ever flag raising took place right here at the University of Sudbury reflects its proud, century-old tradition of commitment towards the Francophone community."
