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Brandon, Manitoba

Last modified: 2005-12-17 by phil nelson
Keywords: brandon | winnipeg | wheat | tree | horse |
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[Brandon Manitoba]
by Arnaud Leroy, 13 November 2005
Source: Brandon city hall

See also:


The yellow grain, by the way, is wheat. Brandon is known as the "wheat city" (its junior hockey team is the "Brandon Wheat Kings"), it got its start as an agricultural community, but is now Manitoba's second largest city (still about 15 times smaller than Winnipeg, though.)

Here is the City's official info on the "crest" (i.e. Coat of Arms)

THE CITY CREST

 

Golden Wheat - Symbol of the agricultural industry of the community
Green Tree - Symbol of the natural growth within the City
Horse - Brandon was once known as the horse capital of Canada
Shield - Artistic and symbolic of a good defence against any aggressors
City of Brandon - Large square letters indicative of a square deal to all
Motto - "She acquires strength through progress."

Brandon was never a town or a village, but began its official existence as a City. In the spring of 1881, General Rosser, the railroad official in charge of designating townsites, selected the present site of the City of Brandon as a major divisional point. The first passenger train steamed into Brandon early in October of 1881. From the few scattered dwellings and 2000 residents that had greeted the arrival of the "iron Horse", Brandon's population mushroomed in less than a year to 5,000+ and on May 30th, 1882, the provincial government enacted "The Brandon Charter" which incorporated Brandon as a city.

The name "Brandon" was derived from the Blue Hills of Brandon, a name which was received second hand from a Hudson's Bay trading post known as Brandon House. The trading post, in turn, had been named after a hill on an island in James Bay where Capt. James had moored his ship in the winter of 1631. (Source: /The Fort Brandon Story/ by Roy Brown - 1974)

This is from a fax I received from Judy Whittingham, Secretary to the Mayor, in April 2005

A page from the Flag Research Center, dated 2003 gives a description along with a Black/White drawing. The only discrepancies with Arnaud's image are that the Flag Research Center states the border of the shield, as well as the lettering "CITY OF BRANDON MANITOBA" are Black, not Green. The Flag Research Center points out that the tree in the Arms is growing out of a stump (the City doesn't mention the stump in its description) and states that the animal in the arms was originally intended to be a hart or stag. Proportions, like most Canadian Cities are 1:2 with 2:3 commonly being used for "small flags".
Dean McGee, 13-14 November 2005