The Newfoundland Flags

The provincial flag was officially adopted by the provincial legislature on May 28, 1980. It was designed by Newfoundland artist Christopher Pratt. The flag was first flown on Discovery Day, June 24, 1980.

What the colours represent:

Blue symbolizes the sea.
White represents snow and ice.
Red is for human effort.
Gold signifies our confidence in ourselves.

What the areas represent:

The blue triangles stand for our Commonwealth heritage in its similarity to Britain's Union Jack. The red triangles represent the island and mainland portions of the province. The gold arrow points toward our optimism for a bright future. When hung as a banner, the arrow closely resembles a sword - a reminder of the great sacrifice made by our province's war veterans. The white centre incorporates the Christian cross, Beothuk and Naskapi ornamentation, and the maple leaf's outline. The trident emphasizes Newfoundland and Labrador's continued dependence on and connection to the fishery and marine resources. The provincial flag symbolizes the past, present and future of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Flag of Labrador

Mike Martin, former MLA for Labrador South, created the flag during the Christmas holidays of December, 1973. Copies of the flags were presented to Labrador community councils, and to the Labrador members of the Newfoundland Assembly, in April of 1974.

In the words used to describe the flag: "The flag is meant to be a permanent declaration of the unique identity of the people of Labrador and their common heritage. The top white bar represents the snows, the one element which more than any other, coloured our culture and dictated our lifestyles. The bottom blue bar represents the waters of our rivers, lakes and oceans. The waters have been our highways, like the snows, and have nurtured our fish and wildlife. The center green bar represents the land. The green and bountiful land is the connecting element that unites our three diverse cultures."

"The symbolic spruce twig was chosen because the spruce tree is the one thing that is common to all geographic areas of Labrador. It has provided our shelter, transport, fuel, and in an indirect way, our food and clothing, since the spruce forests became the environment for the wildlife which gave us meat for our tables, skins for our clothing and trade. It was from the spruce that we sawed our planks and timbers for our boats, komatiks, and houses."

"The three branches of the spruce twig represent the three races, the Inuit, the Indian and the European settlers. The twig growing from one stalk represents the common origin of people regardless of race. The twig is in two sections, or year's growths. The outer growth is longer than the inner growth. This occurs because in good growing years the twig grows longer than in the poor years. Thus the inner, and shorter sprig reminds us of times past, while the outer sprig represents our hope for the future. This is our flag and a symbol of faith in ourselves and the future, our pride of heritage and our respect for the land and the dignity of people."

The vertical pink, white and green stripes of Newfoundland's tri-colour flag, known as the native flag, have a long history.

A popular and widely-flown flag in Newfoundland for much of the 19th century, and well into the 20th, was the "Pink, White and Green." Sometimes known as the "Native Flag," it originated in St. John's in the early 1840s. The story is that during annual wood hauls for the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, which took place while sealers were in town in the spring, considerable rivalry developed between the two groups involved. The Protestant English marked their wood piles with the pink flag of the Natives' Society, while the Catholic Irish used green banners. The threat of violence was such that Bishop Michael Fleming intervened, and persuaded the sealers to adopt a common flag , on which the pink and green would be separated by a white stripe to symbolize peace, taken from the banner of Scotland.

The new flag was adopted by the Natives' Society, and soon became Newfoundland's unofficial flag. The following song about the tri-colour flag was frequently sung during the early 20th century, and became an alternative national anthem. It was written by Archbishop Michael F. Howley in 1902.

The tri-colour flag never displaced the Union Jack, which was flown on land to symbolize Newfoundland's membership in the British Empire. It was adopted as the country's official flag by the National Flag Act of 1931, and re-adopted as the provincial flag in 1952. It was replaced by the present provincial flag in 1980.