Canadian Designs: The Canadian Flag

With fall leaves swirling in the wind here in Toronto, it seems fitting to consider the national flag of Canada, known in French as “l’Unifolié” (“the one-leafed”). The red flag with its central white square and stylized maple leaf is one of Canada’s most distinctive symbols. It also arose in a distinctively Canadian way – by committee. Various flags had been flown in Canada, primarily derivations of the British and French flags. Prime Minister Lester Pearson in the 1960s made it a personal quest to establish a Canadian flag that was not so expressly tied to Canada’s colonial roots. However, Pearson’s own preferred design (a flag with blue borders and three red maple leaves on a white field) was not well-received in his minority government, and was derided by the official opposition, including former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, as “Pearson’s Pennant”. Wishing to avoid the need for a popular referendum, which was Diefenbaker’s preference, the Prime Minister hastily formed a 15-person all-party committee to study the issue and recommend a flag design. The committee was given six weeks to make a recommendation. The proceedings were “in camera”, meaning that the meetings were closed to the public and no public minutes were taken. But we know that at least 35 meetings were held by the committee during the time period and thousands of submissions were reviewed. In the end, a design suggested by George Stanley, chair of the committee, was adopted. It was inspired by a flag that had been flown at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston. The stylized maple leaf design was created by Jacques Saint-Cyr, the flag proportions and layout were designed by George M Bist, and the colour selection was designed by Gunter Wyszchi. Member of Parliament John Matheson steered the project and later contributed to the decision to reduce the proposed maple leaf design from 13 points to 11. Passage through the House of Commons was not a smooth ride either. When lengthy debate of the committee’s recommendation threatened to derail the entire proposal, MP Leon Balcer called for “closure”. Each member was given 20 minutes to speak on the issue, and the vote was taken finally at 2:15 am on December 15, 1964. It passed. On April 15, 1965, the adopted final design was approved by Royal Proclamation. This day (April 15) is now recognized as Flag Day in Canada. From a design standpoint, the Canadian flag has a unique simplicity. It is exactly 2 times wider than its height. The central white stripe (which occupies half of the flag’s overall area) is known in flag terminology as a “Canadian Pale”. The stylized maple leaf, credited to Jacques Saint-Cyr, is said to be representative of the 10 species of maple trees native to Canada. Maples are native to every province of Canada. The 11 points on the leaf do not stand for anything in particular, but were selected so that the maple leaf would be clearly visible and not blurry at a distance and under high wind conditions. The Canadian flag design is a restricted symbol in Canada. It is classified as a prohibited mark in the Canadian trade-marks database, together with many other flags, arms, crests and emblems. Prohibited marks are marks that are exclusive to the use of a public authority. In practice, the Department of Canadian Heritage, which is responsible for the flag, takes requests for use of the flag. Its guidelines state that the national flag should always be displayed “in a manner which may be described as aloft and free.” Summary by: Jennifer Jannuska Further reading: “The National Flag of Canada,” Department of Canadian Heritage: http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/df1-eng.cfm “The Flag: Distinctively Our Own,” The Canadian Encyclopedia: http://tinyurl.com/9rrro6l “National Flag of Canada,” The Canadian Design Resource: http://tinyurl.com/8qnu25f