Historic Banners Of Canada
A well designed flag is the flag of Canada. Canada used to belong in part to the British Empire and was the first to obtain independence, so many years ago. Even though Canada was the first to achieve such, it took the Canadians forever to first fly their own unique Canadian flag from a Canadian flagpole. For years, the Red Ensign was used as the representing banner for this country.
One of the reasons that the Red Ensign was used as an official flag, was the strong body of opinion in favor of the Union Jack, and another was the exact opposite: the desire for a flag with no overt British connections. The issue came to a head in the sixties. Lester Pearson, the then premier, introduced a flag of white with two vertical blue bars at either end and a triple red maple leaf in the center.
Canada’s first coat of arms is not currently used on the design the Canadian flag. Thus, it can’t be seen flying from a Canadian flagpole, unfortunately. The coat of arms really is fascinating. It was granted in 1868 and consisted of the arms of the then four provinces quartered together. As more provinces joined the federation, these became obsolete, so new arms were adopted in the nineteen twenties, and then again re-drawn in 1957 when the maple leaves were changed from the color green to red.
The crest-wreath and mantling featured on the Canadian coat of arms gave Canada its national heraldic colors or red and white. The ten provinces of this country and the two territories have their own flags. An attempt was made to describe some of these flags in this article.
Ontario, formerly known as Upper Canada, received its arms in 1868, and since 21 May 1965 the shield has been placed on the British Red Ensign to make the provincial flag. It was the first shield to use the maple leaf as a Canadian emblem.
In closing, there is the province of Alberta, which was originally part of Rupert’s Land and then of the North-West Territories. The District of Alberta joined with Athabasca to form a province in 1905. Its arms were granted in 1907, and the provincial flag, with the shield only, was adopted on 1 June 1968, and hence raised on a regional flagpole and others officially since.
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