It was born during a crisis of identity. In 1963, Canada was on edge about its British roots. The nation had to decide whether to hold onto its Red Ensign flag, which displayed the Union Jack, or to create something new, something Canadian.
Then-prime minister Lester Pearson pushed for the latter, a move that encountered much opposition.
In 1964, with Parliament deadlocked on the issue, a committee was given six weeks to produce a national flag. Reid Scott, an NDP member on the multi-party committee, told the Star in 2003: “The monarchists wanted the Union Jack, the Legion wanted the Red Ensign, the Creditistes wanted the fleur-de-lys and Dief (John Diefenbaker) wanted himself shaking hands with the Queen.”
And yet, Scott got the Socred and Creditiste members to back the Maple Leaf if it had no “symbols of the past.” That gave him the votes for “a goddamn miracle. To everybody’s surprise, we had a flag.”
Scott, 85, is the last remaining member the original flag committee. Helping decide on the Maple Leaf is his greatest accomplishment, he said last week.
On Feb. 15, 1965, the Maple Leaf was flown for the first time on Parliament Hill.
“The flag represents the central state,” said Sean Kheraj, who teaches history at York University. “Flags still have really potent international symbolism.”
While multitudes of travellers have sewn the Maple Leaf onto their backpacks to signify the “friendly Canadian,” the country’s involvement in Afghanistan has tempered that image. “It represents a changing global perspective of Canada,” Kheraj said.
10 things you may not know about our flag
The Red Ensign was Canada’s unofficial flag until 1945 when the Governor General ordered it to be officially flown on federal government buildings.
Red Ensign flags were taken abroad during battle, often carried in soldier’s packs. The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa has more than 20 flags brought oversees during battle.
The last Red Ensign to fly on Parliament Hill on Feb. 15, 1965 is on display at Ottawa’s Canadian Museum of Civilization
Every day a designated Parliament Hill employee changes the flag on the Peace Tower. The process takes about 30 minutes and requires a 33-metre climb up stairs and ladders.
There’s a 35-year waiting list for those who want a Peace Tower flag and only one flag per household is allowed. If you want an ordinary flag, contact your MP. They have an annual flag quota for their constituents, provided through the Parliamentary Flag Program.
Destroying a flag isn’t illegal in Canada, but this should be done in a “dignified way.” The Canadian Heritage department recommends burning it in private.
Throughout the world, flag burning has been seen as a political statement. Last year, G20 protesters torched the flag on the streets of Toronto. A Cree man in Saskatchewan has stated that he intends to burn the Canadian flag Sunday as a symbolic act of cleansing.
More than 80 people carried the largest known Canadian flag onto the field at a Hamilton Tiger-Cats game in 2007. It measured 38 by 76 metres.
Most Canadian flags are made of nylon or polyester. The largest flag company in Canada, Toronto-based Flying Colours International, sells between 300,000 and 500,000 flags a year, many of them to the federal government.
Feb. 15 is National Flag of Canada Day, an event created in 1996 by then-prime minister Jean Chrétien to commemorate the inaugural raising of the Maple Leaf flag 31 years before.