Although Canada is almost 150 years old, it was only 50 years ago when the iconic red and white flag was officially adopted, and the milestone is being celebrated across the country this year.
For a country known for being polite and agreeable, the flag has a contentious history. Prior to 1960, the topic of adopting an official flag came up several times in various bills in Parliament, but it never really went anywhere.
“There was a lot of public opinion that it was time for our country to be identified by its own flag,” said Chad Debert, assistant manager at Government House in Regina. To celebrate the anniversary, Government House has put together a display with the history of the flag.
Prior to adopting the current flag, Canada used Britain’s Union Jack or the Red Ensign, which was designed for merchant marines, but was never used as a land flag.
“That was where a lot of the debate came from because a lot of people identified with the Red Ensign because they were used in the great wars. There was a strong military connection,” Debert said.
In 1964, Lester B. Pearson got the ball rolling by putting forward a design that was created by a committee.
“Some would say not in his favour, because it became known as the Pearson Pennant and was viewed as him trying to railroad a design through without taking into account any of the public opinion,” Debert said.
The Pearson Pennant had two blue bars on each side and three connected maple leafs in the middle. The blue bars were meant to signify “from sea to sea.”
Parliament asked people to put forward their potential flag designs, and received thousands of options. There were different genres of flags: the wildlife genre, the maple leaf genre, and the union jack with fleur de lis genre. Eventually, the debate was between three flags: the Pearson Pennant, a Union Jack with a fleur de lis, and the design we have now.
When it came to a vote, the Pearson Pennant was defeated immediately. There were more procedures and votes on the last two, and eventually the flag we have today was voted in.
“I think it’s important to celebrate it because a lot of people don’t realize that it is only 50 years old, when you consider how old the country is,” Debert said. “It’s a very identifiable symbol. I think it’s one of the most recognizable flags in the world.”
