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image by Jens Pattke, 2 November 2018See also:
From
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_needs_a_flag_designer:
A Nunavik flag could inspire the region. Quebec’s flag features a blue and
white fleur-de-lis, the stylized lily, a traditional coat-of-arms symbol that
followed French settlers to New France. And Canada’s flag displays the
red and white maple leaf, a long-time symbol celebrating the nature and
environment of what is now Canada. So why shouldn’t Nunavik have its own
distinctive flag, asks Thomassie Mangiok, who runs Pirnoma Technologies, a
design and computer support company, from his home town of Ivujivik on
Nunavik’s Hudson Strait coast.
Nunavik doesn’t have the
self-governance, but it craves, but at least it could have a flag to remind
everyone of what they want, said Mangiok, 30, who studied graphic arts at
Collège Marie-Victorin in Montreal. Nunavik wouldn’t need a vote to adopt a
flag. But it could be a powerful symbol to inspire people, Mangiok suggests.
[...]
A simple flag can serve as a medium to distribute strength, ideas
and a sense of union, he said. “Our leaders are working hard to better Nunavik.
The flag should again remind the population [that] its involvement and support
would only strengthen their elected leaders work,” he said.
At the
recent Parnasimautik consultation meeting in Ivujivik, Mangiok presented his
concept for a flag to bring Nunavimmiut closer to their “symbolic
environment.” Nunavimmiut need a symbol to direct them along the same path, he
said. “Let’s again be reunited through our flag. Let the flag remind us
symbolically what are goals are and why we should achieve them,” he told those
at the meeting.
The blue and white flag echoes the colours of the
Quebec flag - but that’s where the resemblance between Mangiok’s flag and that
of Quebec ends. Mangiok opted for those colours because these are the chief
colours found in the Arctic. In other respects, his design is also taken
straight from nature. The design echoes shape of a bird, with feathers
reaching the sky to show self-governance and freedom, Mangiok said. The large
wings represent strength and the number of feathers equals the number of
communities in Nunavik. Both sides of the design promote equality, with dot
representing a head, “a mind fully supported by the body,” while the top looks
a bit like a person’s hands reaching upwards. The design also evokes the shape
of a caribou antlers.
Mangiok hopes flag could help overcome the
geographic and cultural isolation many feel, referring to a statement in Plan
Nunavik which says that Nunavik “has suddenly lost the points of reference
provided by its traditional lifestyle, and this loss has greated a wide gap
between the generations.” The flag would set “renewed goals for our identity,
capability and independence,” Mangiok said at the language conference. “We can
reunite Nunavimmiut and have a greater strength,” he said. The reception was
positive, he said. Now, the region’s various organizations will consider his
proposal.
Nunavik communities and organizations do have their own
flags — for example, the Kativik Regional Government flag features 1970s-style
syllabics for Nunavik shaped into a map of the region, while Makivik Corp.'s
flag shows a stylized airport worker signaling an aircraft.
Mangiok has
designed other logos for Nunavik organizations, such as the eye-catching black
bird for Nunavik Parks.
José Manuel Erbez Rodríguez, 10 May 2013
