For years, the Steamworks Brewing company of Vancouver, BC has been using a disrespectfully altered illustration of the Angel of Victory Canadian Pacific Railway Memorial: replacing the fallen soldier with a giant bottle of beer. Our veterans and their families deserve better.

L’Ange de la Victoire (English: Angel of Victory or Winged Victory) is a sculpture created by London born and Montreal based sculptor Coeur de Lion McCarthy. It was commissioned in 1921 in memory of the 1116 Canadian Pacific Railway employees who died in World War I. There are three copies in Canada: one in Montreal, one in Winnipeg, and one in downtown Vancouver right beside the Steamworks brewpub and restaurant. 

On its pedestal is inscribed:
“To Commemorate Those in the Service of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company Who at the Call of King and Country, Left All That Was Dear to Them, Endured Hardship, Faced Danger and Finally Passed Out of Sight of Men by the Path of Duty and Self Sacrifice, Giving Up Their Own Lives That Others May Live in Freedom. Let Those Who Come After See to It That Their Names Are Not Forgotten. / 1914–1918 1939–1945”

Other depictions of ‘Winged Victory’ in statues and paintings are typically golden and glorious. By contrast, this sombre statue shows a soldier being carried to heaven at the moment of his death. That is why this is such a unique and important memorial. It reminds the onlooker that victory in the first modern war was not swift or glorious. 

Victory looks like the ultimate sacrifice. 

Victory does not look like beer marketing.

The Steamworks brewing “Angel” logo is an illustration of this statue with some alterations to make it more “steampunk” : welder’s goggles, leather strapping, mechanical cogs in the wings, and a giant beer bottle in the place of the dead soldier. The company has been using this logo to market their beer in various ways for years, including two beer brands (Black Angel IPA, White Angel IPA), a desposit refund logo that says “return for redemption”, and most recently, splashed on the sides of the food truck. 

Marketing in the craft beer industry is hugely important. Companies spend lots of money on logos, branding, and image to entice consumers to buy their product. Think about how many Canadians potentially bought a can of Steamworks beer because of this “cool” “steampunk” logo, not knowing where the image came from. Think of how many wouldn’t have bought it if they had known.

The Angel of Victory statue was created for the sole purpose of remembrance: that all who look upon it should remember the terrible cost of war.  This image should not be used to turn a profit selling beer.

This logo is a disrespectful distortion of an evocative and important memorial. 

It is not an homage. It is not harmless. 

1116 CPR employees volunteered, endured a hell beyond our understanding, and died fighting for Canada. Many more Canadians have done the same. They are all remembered through memorials like these. All that they asked is that we continue to remember.

This is not what Remembrance should look like. 

We are calling on Steamworks Brewing Company to stop the use of this logo and apologize in advance of Remembrance Day 2021.