OK, so its Canada Day! My countrys birthday! I thought I could give you some information on the history of our flag. The Maple Leaf – Our Flag, a brief history Even though our country is over 100 years old we did not have an official flag until 50 years ago. Until that time we used the Red Ensign, it featured a Union Jack on the top left corner to symbolize our ties to Great Britain and the Canadian Coat of Arms on the right. Former Prime Minister had a dream and a vision that we, as a country should have our own flag, one that stood for Canada & only Canada. This caused a lot of controversy, especially among war veterans who had fought for and defended their country under the Red Ensign. During a speech given by the Prime Minister in which he shared his vision of a new flag you can hear loud boos coming from the people in the audience. Nonetheless, the plan for our own flag moved forward. A committee was formed and designs were sent it. From there it was narrowed to three choices, then narrowed down to the one you see today. Three weeks later when Prime Minister Pearson attended the funeral of Winston Churchill he met with the Queen, she signed off on it and it was official, Canada had its own flag. There was a ceremony in Ottawa, our nation’s capital. The Red Ensign was lowered, the Maple Leaf went up & our national anthem was played. Somehow, that first Canadian flag was lost, to this day nobody knows where it is. These days the Maple Leaf is recognized around the world as a symbol of Canada. We paint it on our faces, we tattoo it on our flesh & we stitch it onto our backpacks when traveling. Our Olympic swimmers have it tattooed over their hearts and seeing it lets anyone know that they are among friends. And, for some of us, it symbolizes that we are home.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 05:40:48 +0000
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