Image: The Canadian Press/ photographer Andrew Vaughan./figcaption> The World Acadian Congress at the National Historic Site of Grand Pre, in Nova Scotia, August 15, 2004. During this convention, he proposed the model of the flag we know today. As the chair of the third commission in charge of reviewing the choice of a flag, he had already thought over the project for several years. The idea for the Acadian flag is attributed, among others, to Father Marcel-François Richard, a born-and-bred Acadian who championed education and agriculture, as well as the affirmation of the Acadian people. On 15 August 1884, during the second National Convention in Miscouche, Prince Edward Island, the matter of national symbols was raised: Acadia still needed a national anthem and a flag. Certain attendees favoured Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, 24 June, because it was the day of celebration for French Canadians nevertheless, the desire to be distinct from the rest of Canada’s francophones prevailed. This decision, however, was not unanimous. It was during this first convention that 15 August, the feast of the Assumption, was chosen as the Acadian national holiday. This identity project was established and took shape during the first National Convention of the Acadians, held in Memramcook, New Brunswick, in 1881, where thinkers, members of the clergy and the elite, as well as Acadian nationalists, gathered. It was thanks to the growing influence of leaders from the Acadian elite and clergy that Acadians succeeded in designing an initial social project with the goal of affirming the history, culture and characteristics of this group of people who lived during a period of significant growth in Canada. The latter was also motivated by the problems Acadians faced under rule by a majority anglophone government and by the fear, for some, of their own identity becoming lost with all of Canada’s francophones being lumped together under a Québécois banner. For Acadians, this wish stemmed from the demographic, cultural and political development associated with the Acadian Renaissance. From the 1880s to the early 20th century, francophone Canadians displayed a strong desire to establish their own identity on the national stage.
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