Flag of Canada

Flag Ratio: 1:2

The national flag of Canada, popularly known as the Maple Leaf Flag (French: l'Unifolié "the one-leaved"), is a base red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a red stylised 11-pointed maple leaf.

For much of its post-Confederation history, Canada had used the British Union Flag as its official national flag, with the Canadian Red Ensign as a popularly recognized specifically Canadian variant.

Although the idea of a new design for the national flag had been discussed for decades in 1900s, it was the 1960s that the debate intensified and it became a subject of considerable controversy. The principle political opponent of the change was former Prime Minister and then Current Leader of the Opposition, John Diefenbaker who made his personal crusade not only for sentimental reasons but also for political advantage. Eventually, a multi party Parliamentary committee was established to select a new design which through a period of study with some political maneuvering came up with the current design which was created by George Stanley[?] which was inspired by the flag of The Royal Military College of Canada[?].

Under the supervision of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, the new flag was adopted by the Parliament of Canada on October 22, 1964. It was officially proclaimed into law by Queen Elizabeth II on February 15, 1965.

Despite the preceding acrimony, the new flag was quickly embraced by the Canadian public.

The white centre is a device unique to Canada, blazoned a Canadian pale, being a pale 1/2 the width of the field rather than 1/3.

Flags of Canadian Provinces and Territories:

Alberta[?] - British Columbia[?] - Manitoba[?] - New Brunswick[?] - Newfoundland and Labrador - Northwest Territories[?] - Nova Scotia[?] - Nunavut[?] - Ontario[?] - Prince Edward Island[?] - Quebec - Saskatchewan[?] - Yukon[?]

See also

• Canada
• Coat of Arms of Canada
• List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols
• Flags[?]

External Links