Our flag. Has its meaning changed for you?
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Our flag. Has its meaning changed for you?
Should we move forward and embrace a new flag, perhaps one that honours First Nations people?
What do you think of when you see the Canadian flag?
Tell me, is it different after the events of this past January and February? That is, when the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ rolled into Ottawa festooned with Canadian flags. For four weeks, they blocked downtown streets, honked air horns day and night, roamed the avenues intimidating, harassing and threatening those who were abiding by the Ottawa Public Health recommendations concerning Covid-19 protections and Ontario’s public health protocols — i.e. masking — and demanded an audience with the Prime Minister so that they could demand his resignation and set up their own government? All while professing to be patriots.
As we approach our own national day on July 1st, I’d like to reflect on our flag and what means to us. Perhaps as a way to reclaim it…or not. Not as a symbol of nationalism, as that now too reeks of bigotry and racism, but as a symbol of multiculturalism, environmentalism, community, respect, peace and compassion. Or do we just need to move on? Embrace a new flag, one that represents inclusion and honours those who came before us.
The present day Canadian flag, our maple leaf, was adopted in an official ceremony on Parliament Hill on February 15, 1965. I was there, dressed ceremonially by my mother. I was 6.
Of course I had no clue about what was going on, the significance of this new ‘Canadian’ flag, the independence and autonomy it represented for our country. Nor was I aware of the months of Parliamentary and more widespread rancor that preceded the vote to adopt the idea of it, let alone its design.
“Under this flag may our youth find new inspiration for loyalty to Canada; for a patriotism based not on any mean or narrow nationalism, but on the deep and equal pride that all Canadians will feel for every part of this good land.”
Lester B. Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada, 1963-68
Pride. Pride in “every part of this good land.”
I can feel pride in my work, the gardens I’ve made, the relationships I’ve nourished, the stands I’ve taken, the work I’ve done on myself and the knowledge I’ve accumulated. And I do feel a certain something when I tell strangers in foreign lands that I am Canadian - is it pride or is it something else? Is it the satisfaction that comes with knowing I come from a country that doesn’t glorify guns, that welcomes immigrants, that values subsidized health care and a good education system, whose armed forces is primarily peace-keeping and rarely engages in combat, and that still has wild places to enjoy? Indeed, Canada is one of five global nations that contains more than 70% of the world’s wilderness with over 7 million square kilometers of it (read about that here).
Yes, all of these things may be true, but there are dark sides too. And it’s not just the “me” impulse that came with the Freedom Convoy. There are lots of Canadians who cannot afford to buy a home, who are stuck in jobs that barely pay their most basic expenses, Canadians who are new to this country who are met with racist slurs and isolation. Those in our indigenous population who are still relegated to reservations where tainted water, alcoholism and addiction, lack of quality education, alienation from their own history and lack of opportunity keep them from achieving their goals or, at the very least, keep them from being healthy and whole. And of course, the whole country now knows of the attempted genocide of its indigenous children by the Church and Federal Government.
So, where is my national pride? I have never put a Canadian flag on my backpack, nor have I put one on my car — by the way, did you know that this is considered contrary to our flag ‘etiquette’? According to the Government of Canada website, there are rules for our national flag, and they include:
“The distinguishing flag should not, however, be flown on a moving vehicle when the dignitary is not present in the vehicle. It should be noted that only the Prime Minister may use the National Flag of Canada as a distinguishing flag on a vehicle.”
Someone needs to tell the Freedom Convoy people this.
The Stars and Stripes is often flown by patriotic Americans and the rules allow for them to do so in their day to day lives. And, it is a common thing for Americans to recite the pledge of allegiance to their flag:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
We Canadians don’t do that.
What does our red and white flag symbolize then? Do you know? When Pearson put forward his design for our new flag, it had blue borders, to signify the oceans east and west (in many ways, Pearson and his contemporaries didn’t acknowledge the earliest inhabitants of our fair land - both the Inuit and the First Nations - or the ocean that many of the former relied upon as a food source and means of transportation, the Arctic). However, this design, referred disdainfully by Conservative leader John Dieffenbaker, as the ‘Pearson Pennant’ was considered a win for the Liberal Prime Minister so it did not get bi-partisan approval.
I think it’s kind of weinie anyway. Apparently, many other Canadians at the time thought so too.
But what of our flag and its two red bands, its white ground and single red maple leaf? Well, it’s a bit complicated.
The flag that preceded our ‘Maple Leaf’ was the Canadian Red Ensign, which awkwardly balanced Canada’s nationhood alongside its colonial relationship with England, with the dominant Union Jack in the left upper corner (called the ‘canton’) and the shield (or escutcheon) portion of Canada’s coat of arms on a field of red. The latter showed symbols that represented England (three golden lions), Scotland (red lion rampant), Ireland (the harp of Tara) and France (the three fleur de lis) — considered the four founding nations of Canada; at the base is a sprig of three red maple leaves. It represented Canada as a nation from 1868 to 1965 and was wholly embraced by much of the Canadian population right up until the mid-1960s. Those who favoured it clung to tradition, especially Canada’s war veterans who had fought alongside the British in the Boer War and WWI. Staunch Monarchists also continued to embrace a Canadian flag with the Union Jack dominantly displayed.
The first half of the 20th century saw an uneasy relationship between Canadians and a flag that may have suggested autonomy from Great Britain. As a result, in the first few years of the new century, the Ensign was lowered from the flagpole atop the Parliament Buildings and the Union Jack was hoisted instead. The ascendency of this flag pronounced a renewed sense of British pride, likely brought on by Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and the Boer War, the first time Canadian soldiers had fought in an overseas conflict alongside the English ‘Motherland’. For forty years the Union Jack flew in our nation’s capital and it wasn’t until 1945 that the Red Ensign flew once again.
Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King (yes, the one who spoke to his dead mother and had zero charisma, but was considered a successful and forward-thinking politician) had tried to suggest Canada adopt its own flag both in 1925 and again in 1945, but the idea never gained traction.
Almost twenty years later, when Lester Pearson, a Rhodes scholar and diplomat, as well as a keen student of international politics and the winds of change, became Canada’s Prime Minister in 1963, the question of an autonomous Canadian flag became his signature issue. And with a combination of political will and deft manoevering, or simply dumb luck, the result was a unanimous vote by the flag committee and then a successful bi-partisan vote in Parliament to embrace the competing design put forward by Dr. G.F.G. Stanley, Dean of Arts at Kingston’s Royal Military College (RMC), encouraged by his friend John Matheson, MP for Leeds in Ontario, who led the Pariamentary committee to choose a new flag.
At the time, the Conservatives thought it a trick that the Liberals failed to vote for their own leader’s entry, and it may well have been…or the Anglais may have flinched at the nod to Quebec with the blue bands (the Quebec fleur-de-lis provincial flag had been adopted in 1948). But in the end, the Conservatives were bamboozled.
The winning design was inspired by the flag of RMC, as Stanley openly admitted in his letter to Matheson:
(a) The flag which would meet most of the requirements mentioned above would be a simple red and white flag bearing a stylized maple leaf on it. Such a flag might appear in this way:
(b) Of the two suggestions above, I would favour (A). This flag, admittedly, is very similar to that presently being flown at the Royal Military college. The basic difference being the inclusion of the RMC crest (armed fist) in the white third.
So what of the red bands, the white ground and the singular red maple leaf?
The maple leaf had been considered an emblem of Canada since the early 19th century, as was the beaver. In almost every souvenir plate, postcard and lithograph from the 19th and 20th century, maple leaves manifest as ornamental backgrounds or borders, wreaths, crowns and even as food for its ubiquitous beaver. And although many designs for the flag that were submitted incorporated our fair rodent, it was not considered by most to have the necessary gravitas for a national flag.
The red and white of our flag are considered Canada’s national colours. Each actually also represented the national colour of both England and France in centuries gone by, and as both of these countries colonized Canada, it seemed fitting to embrace them. When Britain’s King George V proclaimed the Arms of Canada our heraldic shield in 1921, he also officially declared red and white to be Canada’s national colours. Seems awkward that we continue to embrace colours that were deemed our national colours by a foreign monarch. Such has been our fidelity to the United Kingdom.
Anyway, back to our flag.
From where I stand, the march toward a flag of “our” own took place in fits and starts during the 20th century, and the final manifestation of it was a mix of tradition, pragmatic simplicity and the incorporation of an icon (the maple leaf) that is distinctly, if not Canadian, at least North American. In my mind, it just doesn’t seem terribly profound or meaningful.
What does it mean to us now?
Many Canadians felt betrayed when the Maple Leaf was raised for the first time on Parliament Hill. There was a certain amount of historical pride (especially by veterans who had proudly carried the Red Ensign while fighting during WWI), Conservative political entrenchment (it was the Liberals who spearheaded the effort), love of Britain and our European heritage, and yes, old-fashioned racism (it is not “our” land after all). Some extremist groups, even today, embrace the Red Ensign as it hearkens back to a time when Canada was overwhelmingly white…sigh.
So, perhaps it is surprising that the anti-Covid health measures, anti-Trudeau, supporters of Pierre Poilievre (MP for Carleton District, South Ottawa) and other far-right Conservative politicians, “freedom” fighting protestors who occupied downtown Ottawa didn’t embrace the Red Ensign flag instead of the maple leaf. After all, the maple leaf was the product of the same liberal government that instituted universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan, the Canadian Student Loan Program, the 40 hour work week, two week annual vacations, and a new minimum wage for federal workers. Pearson and his liberal government also created at least two royal commissions: one was the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (which made recommendations concerning legal equality for women) and the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, whereby English and French became Canada’s official languages. There is much to be thankful for since our flag was first flown on that cold day in February over 57 years ago now. These are all good things that our fair country has embraced.
But maybe a change is necessary. Not because of the ways in which our flag has been hijacked by right-wing anti-government and self-absorbed yahoos. Rather, perhaps we should set aside our squabbles about vaccines and the common good vs. personal freedoms and recognize, finally, that this land, is not ours after all, but was forcibly taken from its earlier inhabitants. And then, those same inhabitants were systematically brainwashed to “kill the Indian” in them…leaving broken children, families and communities behind.
This flag feels more meaningful to me.
It is from the hand of Curtis Wilson, an indigenous artist from the Kwakwaka’wakw territory in Campbell River, British Columbia, who died at the age of 39 in 2019. He described the iconography thus:
"A killer whale is within the maple leaf and the red bands are each with a salmon design. Throughout my life, I have come to learn all the hardships and struggles that First Nations people have faced in this country. This design speaks for my love and visions of my heritage and the country I live in– standing together in support of each other."
That someone with an ancestral history of being colonized and nearly exterminated by European colonizers speaks of standing together in support with them, us, makes me proud. Proud to share a land with those like him.