Je me souviens

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For the documentary film, see Je me souviens (film).

Coat of arms, with the motto

Je me souviens is the official motto of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The literal translation of the French phrase in English is "I remember". The motto is displayed on the coat of arms of Quebec, and on automobile licence plates issued by the province (where it replaced La Belle Province, meaning "The Beautiful Province"). Both the coat of arms and the motto were fashioned by the French Canadian architect Eugène-Étienne Taché during his career as the Assistant Commissioner for Crown Lands for Quebec.

The motto appears right under the coat of arms at the entrance of the Parliament Building in Quebec City. All around the building, there are many historical figures including French ones such as Samuel de Champlain and Jacques Cartier, English ones such as General James Wolfe and Lord Elgin, governor general of Canada, and also some from the First Nations. Eugène-Étienne Taché also left blank spaces to allow future generations to add their own, such as Maurice Duplessis and René Lévesque.

There has been a long standing debate on the motto's exact meaning, fuelled by the fact that Taché did not explicitly explain the meaning of Je me souviens ^[1]. There is a persistent story that the full quotation from Taché is "Je me souviens que né sous le lys, je croîs sous la rose" ("I remember that born under the lily, I grew under the rose" -- referring to the floral emblems of France and England), but this is undocumented. This may refer to the comemorative medal for the three hundreth anniversary of the foundation of the City of Quebec, created by Tache, on which is written "Dieu aidant, l'oeuvre de Champlain née sous les lis a grandi sous les roses." ("God helping, Champlain's work was born under the lily and grew under the rose") ^[2]. According to historian Jacques Rouillard, the reference to the British heritage refers to an admiration for the British parliamentary system, and would be supported by some of the symbolism found at the Parliament Building. Nonetheless, the theory of Taché's anti-British sentiment persists, and over time the slogan has taken a nationalist tint. It is taken by many to mean "I remember my French history and heritage" or, even, "I remember what the English did to the French".

This motto has sometimes been used by political factions influential in the province; recently, it was taken up by the défusionnistes protesting the forced annexation or fusion of certain municipalities into a regional capital. They put bumper stickers onto their cars proclaiming Je me souviendrai des fusions forcées ! ("I will remember the forced annexations!").

Je me souviens is also the motto of the Royal 22^e Régiment.