Arms of Ernest Léger

Blazon

Argent a saltire Sable charged in centre point with a mullet Or between in chief a scallop Gules in dexter and sinister flanks a rose Gules seeded Or barbed Vert and in base a sprig of violets (Viola cuculata) stemmed and leaved proper;

Symbolism

The saltire, relating to the cross of Saint Andrew, is a frequent symbol in the arms of the Johnson families. Here, Archbishop Léger uses it to pay homage to his mother and to his uncle, the late Father Camille Johnson, who was a priest at the Cathedral in Moncton. The star is a Marian symbol referring to the Maris Stella, the star of the sea, which is associated with the Virgin of the Assumption, patron saint of Archbishop Léger’s archdiocese and of Acadia. The shell in the arms recalls both the Mi’kmaqs of New-Brunswick and the birthplace of the Archbishop, Cormier Village, in the Parish of Haute-Aboujagane in New Brunswick The parish’s name was given in 1812 as Naboujagan by Monseigneur Plessis, Archbishop of Quebec, and it seems to have been a misnomer for Naposang, Mi’kmaq for “the rope is covered with shells”. The rose, another Marian emblem, recalls the first ancestor in Archbishop Léger’s paternal line, Jacques Léger dit La Rosette. The violet, likewise a Marian emblem, is the floral emblem of New Brunswick, the province where the Archdiocese of Moncton is located.