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A national flag is a simple, effective way of identifying both individual citizens and the nation as a whole - expressing its collective will and SOVEREIGNTY. Before 1763, rather than a flag, the royal arms represented the king of France in Canada. The British, on the other hand, were accustomed to flying either the Red Ensign or the Union Flag from their forts. This confusion worsened after Confederation when the quartered coats of arms of the provinces were placed in the fly of the Red Ensign, giving it a form of popular sanction as Canada's flag. Prime Minister Mackenzie KING's attempts to adopt a national flag in 1925 and again in 1946 failed, and eventually, in 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. PEARSON assigned the task of evolving a suitable design to an all-party, 15-member special committee.
After considerable debate, the final design adopted by Parliament, and approved by royal proclamation, became Canada's flag 15 February 1965. Red and white had been sanctioned as national colours by the royal proclamation granting a coat of arms to Canada in 1921, and the maple leaf had enjoyed a long tradition as a symbol of Canada. See also EMBLEMS OF CANADA.
 Flag of CanadaFlag of Canada (artwork by Karen Bailey).
Author
AUGUSTE VACHON
Suggested Reading
J.R. Matheson, Canada's Flag (1986).
Links to Other Sites
Symbols of Canada
An illustrated guide to national and provincial symbols of Canada, our national anthem, national and provincial holidays, and much more. From the Canadian Heritage website.
Canada's Flag
This outstanding site about the Canadian flag is based on the writings of John Matheson. From Library and Archives Canada.
Flags
Historica’s acclaimed one-minute movies about Canadian history
National Flag Day of Canada
Celebrate the anniversary of the maple leaf flag on February 15. Includes information about historic Canadian flags and related classroom learning activities. From Canadian Heritage.
The Great Canadian Flag Debate
This multimedia CBC website covers all sides of the great debates about the future Canadian flag.
FLAP OVER HALF-MAST
Half-staff? Half-mast? Does it matter? This CBC “WORDS: WOE & WONDER” website offers various suggestions about vexatious vexillological terminology.
Unifying a nation under a cherished symbol
An article about symbols that define Canadian identity. From Canwest News Service.
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Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.
| THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA |
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| Guillaume Gagnier. French hornist, bassist, b Montreal 9 Dec 1890, d there 22 Aug 1962. He began theory lessons with his father, Joseph, and then studied french horn with Charles Tanguy and a Mr Debleye. In the 1920s he had ... |
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