A Flag for Canada

A Flag for Canada

The Canadian Government defines a flag as "a symbol to identify people belonging to a group."

Canada has been a country for many years but has always lacked one thing. Up until 1965, we did not have our own official flag. The first thoughts of Canada adopting its own flag started in 1925. A Privacy Council committee looked at the possibilities but their work was never completed. This meant that the Red Ensign and the Union Jack would continue to represent Canada. In 1946 a committee was again formed to determine a national flag. Over 2,600 designs were submitted but yet again, no flag was picked.

In 1964, the Canadian government decided that they wanted a flag chosen before the centennial 1967. A request was issued for designs. More than 2000 ideas poured in. they got many designs that were very different . There were beavers to the north star to fags which combined many other flags. They definitely had variety in the choices. After much thought the committee was able to narrow the field down to three choices. The three remaining designs included The Red Ensign combined with the Union Jack and the fleur-de-lis, which was the favorite choice of Diefenbaker and the Conservatives. Diefenbaker liked this idea because it was new and reflected our roots and historical past with France and Britain. The second choice was three maple leafs in the middle on white which reflected the English , the French , and all the other cultures that make up Canada, topped off with a blue stripe going down each side representing