The Arms of Quebec
These arms were copied from a booklet published by the Department of the Secretary of State of Canada. The three fleur-de-lys in the chief and the lion below it represent France and Britain, the two founding countries of Quebec (the French influence is of course the more senior and by far the stronger, as shown by the more prominent position of the fleur-de-lys).
The green maple leaves represent Quebec (in contrast to gold leaves for Ontario and red ones for Canada- it's a good thing maples aren't as common in any of our other provinces, or we'd
run out of leafy colours). The motto translates as "I remember"; (and it's true that Quebec separatists never seem to forget their grudge against anglophones).
This coat of arms is unique among Canadian provincial arms in that there is no authority behind it. Quebec was originally granted the arms shown above, with a chief of two blue fleur-de-lys on gold, since the gold lilies on blue would have (at the time) been too reminiscent of the similar quarter on the old British coat of arms (which represented Britain's claim to the throne of France, and was only removed in 1801). The Quebec provincial government, either not knowing or not caring that arms are granted by, and can only be changed by, royal (not provincial) authority, changed the chief and added the crown and the motto by themselves. Although other provinces have done similar things (such as adding supporters), they have eventually asked that these changes be officially granted, and have never changed the shield itself. The strong separatist and anti-monarchist sentiments in that province, I think, will prevent this situation being rectified in the near future. (My personal opinion is that they should seek supporters, and that these supporters should be two lions- one blue with gold fleur-de-lys, and one gold with green maple leaves. Lions are typically European (and Quebec is generally considered the most European part of North America), and the patterns match the shield (blue lions, by the way, have previously appeared in the heraldry of New France, so they are not as bizarre as some people might think). A snowy owl (the provincial bird) would do quite nicely for a crest.)
The other emblems of la belle provence can be found here, and an official version of this page (with an excellent history of the flag) is here.
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