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French national flag - Image byŽeljko Heimer, 22 September 2001
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The archipelago ofSaint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is located in thenorth-west of the Atlantic Ocean, 25 km south of the island ofNewfoundland (Canada), 4,600 km ofParis.
The archipelago is made of three main islands, Saint-Pierre (26 sq.km), Miquelon (110 sq. km) and Langlade (91 sq. km). Since the 18thcentury, Miquelon and Langlade have been linked by a sandy isthmus includingin its northern part a brackish laggon, Grand Barachois. Miquelonand Langlade are also called Grande Miquelon and Petite Miquelon,respectively. A few smaller islands, for instance Grand Colombierand Îles aux Marins, inhabited until the 1960s, are located off theeastern coast of Saint-Pierre.
In spite of being smaller, Saint-Pierre (5,618 inhabitants) is the mostimportant island of the archipelago with most of the population and theeconomical activity. A hundred of families (698 inhabitants) live onMiquelon. Langlade is inhabited only in summer, mostly near the sandbeach of Anse du Gouvernement.
The oldest human remains found in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon belong toInuit whalers. Basque whalers and seal hunters probably landed on thearchipelago long before its official discovery by the Portuguese JoséÁlvarez Faguendes on 19-21 0ctober 1520. The archipelago was then namedEleven Thousand Virgins' Islands (Islas de Onze Mille Virgens). Corte-Real renamed it to Green Islands.
On 15 June 1535, Jacques Cartier, sailing on theGrande Hermine, tookpossession of the islands in the name of King of France Francis I andcoined the name of Saint-Pierre:
Nous fumes ausdictes yles sainct Pierre, ou trouvasmes plusieursnavires, tant de France que de Bretaigne, depuis le jour sainctBernabe, XIe de juing, jusques au XVIe jour dudict moys
(We stayed to the so-called Saint-Pierre islands where we found several French andBreton ships, from St. Barnabas' day, the 11th of June, until the 16thof June.)
The name of Miquelon (after Michel) was coined by Basque fishers around1579. The name of Langlade, formerly Langley, is probablyderived from L'Anglais (The English).
The organized colonization of the islands that started at the end of the17th century was officially encouraged by King Louis XIV. Mostsettlers were fishers fromBasque Country,Brittany andNormandy.Merchants fromSaint-Malo (Brittany) settled in Saint-Pierre and built warehouses dedicated to codfish storage.The Grand Banks of Newfoundland were so rich in cods that the explorer Giovanni Caboto(15th century) is said to have fished a lot of cods just by dipping abasket in the water. Cod fishing was a source of dispute between theFrench and English settlers in North America, which turned into asuccession of wars.
The French colony of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon depended on the largerFrench colony of Plaisance, Newfoundland. By the treaty of Utrecht(1713), the French settlers had to withdraw from Newfoundland andSaint-Pierre and Miquelon. They moved toCap Breton (Nova Scotia), aka Isle Royale, but kept the right to fish on a part of the coast ofNewfoundland called the French Shore. In 1763 (Treaty of Paris), Francelost most of its American possessions but was retrocededSaint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. Some 800Acadians, who refused to plead allegiance to the British Crown, settled in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.Several of them were rich shipowners, who were granted the status ofrefugees. However, the French government repatriated the Acadians toFrance in 1767, claiming the islands were too small and poor to housethem. They settled in the ports ofBrest, Saint-Malo,Lorient andDunkirk, until 1768, when the government allowed them to come back to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
In the aftermath of another war lost by France in 1778, theinhabitants of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon were once again deported. Theywere allowed to come back in 1783.Another war and deportation episode occured in 1793.
Britain definitively ceded the archipelago to France in1816. Some 700 colonists and 49 shipwrights rebuilt the village of Saint-Pierre.More than 70 French ships called at Saint-Pierre that very same year.The 1860-1890 decades were the Gilded Age of the archipelago, with the buildingsof roads, lighthouses, the post office (1854), and theBanque des Îles(1889), and the release of an official gazette (Feuille Officielle).For the next 180 years, codfish would be the sole source of income for the islands.George Allan England wrote in 1929 (Isles of Romance):
"St. Pierre was once the liveliest fishing port in the world. Theeighties of the last century beheld its greatest prosperity. In thosedays seven to eight thousand fisheman from St Malo,Fécamp, St Brieuc,andDieppe, and the arrival of the Terre Neuvas, the vessels and crewsfrom France, was a wondrous, treasure producing event. The French andSt. Pierre armateurs, or outfitters, reaped golden harvests indeed."
On 24 August 1889, the guillotine was used for the first and last timein North America. A named Néel was sentenced to death for a murder.Shipped fromMartinique, the guillotine could hardlywork. Since there was no official executor, a gendarme operated the guillotine; he soon left the islands because everybody called him Judas and refused his money. Doctor Albert Calmette (1863-1933), hired in 1887 as a microbiologist to investigate the alteration of codfish color, found out that the alteration was caused by bacteria living in salt. Subsequently hired by Louis Pasteur, Calmette developed with the veterinarian Camille Guérin (1872-1961) the vaccine against tuberculosis known as BCG (Bacillum Calmette-Guérin).
In 1903, the fishing campaign yielded bad results and an economicalcrisis hit the islands, which mostly relied on the shipowners fromEuropean France and totally lacked economical independence. In the 1920s, the economical situation improved because of the Prohibition; the islanders became bootleggers, which was more profitable than fishing. Saint-Pierre was the main hub of alcoholtraffic to the USA. The port was increased. This sudden wealthy periodended in 1933 when the Prohibition was lifted.
During the Second World War, several fishers from the archipelagoenlisted in theForces Navales Françaises Libres, in spite of the opposition of Governor Gilbert de Bournat.On 24 December 1941,Admiral Muselier, commanding three corvettes and the submarineSurcouf, raided the islands. Bournat was arrested andSaint-Pierre-et-Miquelon ralliedFree France. New York newspapers called the event "the most beautiful Christmas present for thefree world".
After the War, Saint-Pierre was a main port of call for the 500trawlers that fished every year on the Grand Banks. In 1977, Canada increased its jurisdiction to 200 nautic miles. Saint-Pierre did the same but a dispute started because of the proximity of Newfoundland. The crisis grew more acrimonious when Canadadecided to stop overfishing. In 1987, the French trawlers were nolonger allowed to call at the Canadian ports. The islanders started the"Codfish Crusade" and fished into forbidden areas. The French trawlerswere inspected, fishers and representatives were jailed in Canada. In1994, France and Canada signed an agreement that endedindustrial fishing in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
From 1872 to 1936, there were three municipalities inSaint-Pierre and Miquelon. The two municipalities of Saint-Pierre andMiquelon-Langlade were re-established in 1945. The archipelago was thenan oversea territory (territoire d'outre-mer) administrated by aGovernor. On 19 July 1976, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon became adepartement. By the Law of 11 June 1985, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon isnow a Territorial Collectivity of the French Republic (Collectivitéterritoriale de la République française). The French state isrepresented by a Préfet, who resides in Saint-Pierre. The localgovernment is the General Council (19 members electing according to thelist system, 15 in Saint-Pierre and 4 in Miquelon-Langlade). TheGeneral Council has a specific competence on customs, tax, urbanism andhousing.
In Paris, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is represented by a Representative, aSenator and a Councillor at the Economic and Social Council.
Ivan Sache, 5 March 2005
The official flag of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is the French national flag.
Ivan Sache, 7 May 2005
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French national flag - Image byZoltán Horváth, 14 September 2024
The local flag of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon is blue with a yellow ship, said to represent theGrande Hermine, which brought in Saint-Pierre Jacques Cartier on 15 June 1535. Three square fields placed along the hoist recall the origin of mostinhabitants of the islands, from top to bottom,Basque Country,Brittany andNormandy.
Ivan Sache, 4 July 2005
The flag was likely designed by André Paturel, a local business owner. It was designed n 1982, based on the Collectivity's coat of arms. Although not used at an official level, the flag is still a common sight in the territory, being flown alongside the French tricolour in front of private residences and even government buildings.
Vexilla Mundi [website] gives colors of the local flag in Pantone system: PMS 2995C (light blue), PMS 116C (yellow), PMS 186 C (red), PMS White, PMS 347C (green), and PMS Black.
Zoltán Horváth, 14 September 2024
Coat of arms of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
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Coat of arms of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
left, first version - Image byArnaud Leroy, 4 July 2005; right, curent version - Image byZoltán Horváth, 14 September 2024
The coat of arms of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, adopted around 1933, shows the elements of the flag, with the three square fields present along the hoist of the flag placed horizontally in chief.
The arms shown on dexter chief (upper left corner) is theZazpiak Bat or arms of the sixterritories which Basque nationalists consider to have Basqueheritage. However the original version on the Saint-Pierre and Miquelon armsis a pre-1936 one, still bearing the "attributes of monarchical orlordly institutions and of fratricidal fights among Basques" whichwere removed in the1936 arms.
Santiago Dotor &Luc Baronian, 2 June 2005
On the current version of the coat of arms, three square flags placed along the top recall the origin of most inhabitants of the islands, from left to right,Basques,Bretons, andNormans.
Zoltán Horváth, 14 September 2024