PAGE OF THE MOMENT: Rurouni Kenshin Poem			TSF Vote Banner Exchange
E-mail Me		Contact Me

The Canadian National Flag was adopted by the Canadian Parliament on October 22, 1964 and was proclaimed into law by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (the Queen of Canada) on February 15, 1965. The Canadian Flag (colloquially known as The Maple Leaf Flag) is a red flag of the proportions two by length and one by width, containing in its centre a white square, with a single red stylized eleven-point maple leaf centred in the white square.

The colours red and white used in the Canadian flag are the same as those colours used in the Union Flag (of the UK). Red and white are the national colours of Canada since 1921 (when they were proclaimed by King George V on the recommendation of the Canadian Governmant).

On 21 August, 1860, the Prince of Wales was visiting Canada (i.e. Ontario and Quebec at that time, I assume) - the first real royal visit. People lined the streets of Toronto to see him - those of English origin wore a rose, the Scots wore a thistle, but what were the Canadian-born to wear? Canada's emblem had long been the beaver. 26 years earlier the Saint Jean Baptiste Society in Quebec had adopted the maple leaf as its symbol (apparently the first time the maple leaf was used as a symbol), and it was decreed that for the prince's visit the Canadians should wear a maple leaf. The idea took root.

In 1867 as Canada was becoming a country, a call was put out to write a patriotic song. Whatever song was chosen has since been lost to history, but the second place winner was Alexander Muir who wrote "The Maple Leaf for Ever", a song which became very popular, although today is downplayed a lot as it is not inclusive of the French Canadians.

In World War 1, Lester Pearson noted that almost every batallion from Canada included the maple leaf in its insignia, and vowed he would campaign to put it on the flag, and of course 50 years later as prime minister of Canada he was part of the 33-day debate that resulted in the maple leaf as the Canadian flag.

According to the documents edited by the Government of Canada : The flag is red and white, official colors that King George V designated for Canada in 1921, with a style d'érable leaf to 11 points in his center. Since 1925 and 1946, Parliament examined 2600 suggestions for a new national emblem, any understanding having not being able to be found, the current flag was deployed February 15 1965.

...Do you now select yellow or white to go with red? Yellow and red appear together in the English and Scottish quarters of the shield, so white and red would be a more distinctive combination. White would also symbolize the ice and snow associated with much of Canada. Red and white just seem the best option within the tradition of English heraldry. A note about the colour of the maple leaves in the base of the shield. In 1921 these were green and were not changed to red until 1957. The original blazon (description) was; 'argent three maple leaves slipped vert'. (Three green maple leaves with stalks on a white background). However before publication this was changed to; 'argent three maple leaves conjoined on one stem proper'. The significant change is that 'vert' which must be 'green' has been changed to 'proper' which means 'natural'. Since the botanical maple leaf changes colour from green to red, the leaves in the base of the shield could have been made red even in 1921, just as the maple leaf in the paw of the lion on the crest, already was.

The "Royal Union Flag" (British Union Flag) is a current "official" flag of Canada per act of parliament of December 18, 1964, to "show allegiance to the crown and as a symbol of Canadian membership in the Commonwealth". It is required to be flown at Canadian federal goverment facilities (if sufficient poles are available) on Victoria Day, the anniversary of the Statute of Westminister (Dec 11), and Commonwealth day. The national flag (maple leaf) takes precedence in all cases except during a royal visit.

The practical result of this resolution is that the Union Jack is to be flown *alongside* the Canadian national flag at all federal government buildings, airports, and military bases on special occasions, "such as the Queen's Birthday, and on the anniversary of the passing of the Statute of Westminster by the Imperial Parliament", on 11 December 1931.

[The Statute of Westminster, by the way, is the piece of British legislation wherein it was formally declared that all the self-governing Dominions of the Empire/Commonwealth and Britain were constitutionally "equal in status", with "no member subordinate in any way" to another. Until this Statute was passed, there was still considerable confusion about the legal status of the Dominions on the international stage; although we had been self-governing, internally, for almost 100 years, all our foreign affairs were, more-or-less, supposed to be conducted via London. The Statue of Westminster formally changed that -- and, in fact, there is a school of thought which asserts that 11 December is the real independence day for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.]

I actually put this to the test last time I was home on the Queen's Birthday: I randomly drove around Ottawa and found that out of 21 federal government buildings I came across with the capacity to implement the resolution (ie., those with a second flag pole, since the National Flag must also be flown), 19 complied. That was in May 1992.

One last point: although it is true that we general still say "Victoria Day", in fact, the formal title has been for quite some time "the Queen's Official Birthday" (with the added implication of "in Canada"). We are not technically celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday, but rather the reigning sovereign's birthday. The same thing occurs in the UK -- the Queen's actual birth date is 21 April, but the official celebration is in June