Bathurst, New Brunswick

Jul 31

The flag of Bathurst, New Brunswick, is a vibrant and detailed symbol of the city’s rich history, industries, and cultural identity. Divided into yellow and blue fields, with a prominent white triangle at the hoist, the flag features a shield and ribbon in its centre. Through the careful arrangement of colours, symbols, and motifs, the flag encapsulates the essence of Bathurst, blending the city’s bilingual character, its Canadian identity, and the core industries that have shaped its development.

The flag’s design is characterized by a balanced division of space, with a yellow upper field and a blue lower field, signifying the city’s connection to the land and the sea. At the hoist is a white triangle that extends halfway across the flag, containing a shield and ribbon in its center. The simple shield, one-half the height of the flag, is divided into panels that represent Bathurst’s heritage and key industries.

The top of the shield features two horizontal panels. The left side is red, showcasing a yellow lion rampant facing left, which evokes the city’s English heritage. The right side is blue, adorned with three white fleurs-de-lis in a row, the central one larger than the others. This symbol reflects Bathurst’s French heritage, a nod to the bilingual nature of the city. The central shield, divided diagonally into four quarters, holds further symbols of Bathurst’s identity.

Each quarter of the shield depicts a different aspect of the city’s local industries and environment. The upper left quarter is white, crossed by two horizontal stripes—yellow over red—edged in black. Surmounting these stripes are crossed miner’s picks, indicating the importance of mining to Bathurst’s economy. The left lower quarter is yellow, symbolizing the city’s significant lumbering industry, with a green evergreen tree at its center. To the right, in the upper quarter, is a light blue field with a yellow plough, representing the city’s agricultural roots and the importance of farming to the region. The lower right quarter features a white field with a light blue fish, flanked by two wavy blue horizontal stripes, symbolizing Bathurst’s fishing industry. Below the lower stripe, the field is yellow, representing the city’s coastal location.

The flag’s design is not only a reflection of Bathurst’s industries but also of its geographic and cultural identity. The wavy lines and yellow bottom of the lower triangular panel indicate Bathurst’s coastal position at the southernmost part of Chaleur Bay, on the Atlantic Ocean. Above the central shield is a small white shield adorned with a red Canadian maple leaf, signifying the city’s Canadian identity. Beneath the shield is a ribbon with swallow-tail ends, inscribed with "19 BATHURST, N.B. 66" in black sans-serif letters, denoting the city’s incorporation in 1966.