In front of the original market buildings down near the old port is the original crest of the city of Montréal, featuring all the cultures that were part of the original founding communities.
The French eventually got sick of being laughed at and changed their symbol from the beaver to the Fleur de lis. More embarrassing though is the fact that they didn’t add anything to symbolize the local native peoples (over 30 tribes, here for at least 1000 years already) until 2017, when the white pine was added to the centre of the crest. Shameful.
And I see they managed to sneak the beaver back in at the top there. Well done.
Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but a (Polish) pope declared the beaver a fish hundreds of years ago to give French fur trappers in the wilds of the new continent something to eat in the 150 or so feast days per year when you’re supposed to eat fish but you’re hundreds of miles away from the sea. Cunning – and so thoughtful!
