Gasp�, Quebec (Canada) (original) (raw)

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Ville de Gasp�

[ [Grande-Vall�e] ](../images/c/ca-qcgpe.gif) image by Masao Okazaki, 20 January 2021

The municipality
Description of the flag

See also:

The municipality

The town of Gasp� is located in the east of the peninsula of Gasp�sie, 650 km from the town of Qu�bec. The town was named after the Micmaq word "Gespeg", "the land's end".

In 1534, the sailor from Saint-Malo Jacques Cartier landed in the bay of Gasp� and planted there a cross, taking possession of the territory in the name of the King of France. Gasp� has since then been nicknamed "The Cradle of Canada".

In 1765, decommissioned British soldiers and officers settled in Gasp�, joined in 1784 by some 315 Loyalists. The first post house in Gasp�sie, then one of the four post houses in Lower Canada, was set up in Gasp� in 1804.

In the middle of the XIXth century, Gasp� lived mostly from cod fishing and, later, from trade. Some 40-50 European ships moored every year in the port of Gasp�. Italy, the USA, Brazil, Portugal and Norway open consulates in Gasp�, which was incorporated as a municipality on 9 December 1873. Gasp� is the cradle of Canadian aviation: in 1926, Count Jacques de Lesseps, commissioned by the government for the aerial survey of the forests of Gasp�sie, founded a flying base in Gasp�, expected to develop aviation all over the Province of Qu�bec; Lesseps crashed on 18 October 1927 in river Saint-Laurent and was buried in the cemetery of Gasp�.

During the Second World War, gulf Saint-Laurent was a strategic place, "visited" by German submarines in 1941. The Fort Ramsay naval base (3,000 men) was set up in Gasp� to patrol the gulf, whereas forts were built on the coast.

On 24 December 1970, the government of the Province of Qu�bec merged 12 towns to form the current town of Gasp�, one of the largest in North America by its area (1,440 sq. km; 130 km of coasts). In 1971, the Canadian Government transformed the peninsula of Forillon into the National Park of Forillon.

Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 29 October 2007

Description of the Flag

The flag of Gasp� is white with the town's blue emblem, made of three waves surmounting the writing "Ville de Gasp�".

The flag is shown on a colour photography published in Le Pharillon, 28 October 2007 [link no longer available]. Major Pierre Huet, from Gasp�, is pictured flying the flag of Gasp� in Spin Boldak, Province of Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Ivan Sache, 29 October 2007

Gasp� is also of significance to stamp collectors - Canada's first stamp (technically an embossed envelope) was a provisional issue created by R.W. Kelly, the postmaster at New Carlisle, Gasp�, in April 1851. Only one example is known and, understandably, it is thus regarded as one of the world's most valuable stamps. It is commonly known as "The Gasp� Threepence" or "The Gasp� Provisional".
James Dignan, 29 October 2007