Coats of ArmsThe AFLA has acquired associative arms. Research and design of the arms were entirely undertaken by Brother Gérald Le Mire (#17). They are illustrated as backgrouond of this page as a watermark, beneath the heraldic description of the armorial bearings, the meaning of the retained furniture and colours. ArmsAzure, gold dapped; the azure charged with a round mirror argent, within a dapped border of sixteen golden pieces. Crest Upon a pad, the colour of a coin, a rock silver plated gules, a Red-winged Blackbird, rising with wings properly adorned. On top of the crest, guled letters, set upon an golden undulated banderole bearing the name of the organism: Association des Familles Lemire d'Amérique. MeaningThe mirror is a traditional utensil worthy of adoption as the symbol of the Lemire name, considering the phonetic similarity of the two. The mirror,of antique style, appears in a place of honour, on the azure part of the escutcheon,and invites one to explore the profound values inscribed in a grand name throughout the history of Nouvelle-France.
Just above the escutcheon lies the crest of Cap-Rouge Rock, the reminiscence of a promising land,
a home base and a launching ground for families dedicated to the development of Québec,
Canada and America. Thus, in the period of the formidable French expeditions, the Lemire family
spread its name across America, and it is on the site of Cap-Rouge which the very first of its
members, François Lemire, landed as early as 1542 and where our first ancestor, Jean Lemire,
lived in approximately 1660.
On the summit of Cap-Rouge Rock stands the Red-winged Blackbird, reflecting the aspiration to attain noble ideals.
Two myrtle branches support, protect and decorate the escutcheon.
The myrtle is a centuries-old symbol attached to Lemire heraldries by reason of their phonetic
similarities and by the fact that the myrtle is a medicinal plant ; in old French, mire carries the
meaning of médecin, physician.
The motto, Nisi sapiens, liber est nemo, translates as "Without wisdom, one is not free". It is attributed
Above the escutcheon, the banderole is reminiscent of the large Lemire gathering at Baie-du-Febvre held in 1988,the occasion at which the Association des Familles d'Amérique was founded. © Design: Gérald Le Mire, Trois-Rivières,
le 28 janvier 1998.
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