History of flags and flagpoles in Canada

According to Canadian Heritage, flags are thought to have first been used as rallying points for troops in battle, and today they identify countries, groups and organizations. Canada’s own history can be told through the flags that have flown over it – from the banners of New France to a maple leaf chosen in 1964 – and through the flagpoles that carried them, from ships’ masts to the pole on the Peace Tower.

New France

Since the first days of the European presence on Canadian soil, the flags of the European homelands were displayed. The Gouvernement du Québec traces the elements of its own flag to that period: from the moment Jacques Cartier used the fleur-de-lis as an emblem in America until the cession of New France to Great Britain, many standards and banners succeeded each other, and the king’s representatives and the militia flew flags with one, two or even three of the elements that would appear in Québec’s flag some three hundred years later. The fleur-de-lis itself is one of the oldest emblems in the world.

British North America

After New France, the flags of British North America showed the ties to the British Empire. Before and after Confederation in 1867, Canada used the United Kingdom’s Royal Union Flag, the Union Jack. It remained in use until 1965, and it lives on in the provincial flags of Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.

The Canadian Red Ensign

The Canadian Red Ensign – a red flag with the Union Jack in the canton and the shield of Canada on the fly – was officially a flag for Canadian ships from the 1890s, but it had been used unofficially at sea and on land since the 1870s and was widely recognized as a national symbol. Its shield changed as provinces joined Confederation, and there were many versions with wreaths of maple leaves, crowns and beavers. During the First World War it became a popular patriotic emblem, and after King George V granted arms to Canada in 1921, the new shield appeared on it; this version represented Canada in the Second World War. Attempts to adopt a distinctive flag in 1925 and 1946 were shelved, and as a compromise the Red Ensign flew from government buildings.

1948: the fleurdelisé

On 21 January 1948, the fleurdelisé replaced the Union Jack at the top of the central tower of the Hôtel du Parlement in Québec City. That morning, the Government of Québec had given it the status of official flag of Québec by decree. The Gouvernement du Québec marks the anniversary each year as the Jour du Drapeau.

1965: the maple leaf on Parliament Hill

After the Great Flag Debate of 1964, the new flag was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 January 1965. On 15 February 1965, thousands gathered on Parliament Hill as the Red Ensign was lowered and, at the stroke of noon, the maple leaf flag was raised. The National Film Board of Canada filmed the ceremony. The story of the flag’s design is told in the guide to the Canadian flag.

The Peace Tower flag

The flag on the Peace Tower is Canada’s best-known flag. According to Public Services and Procurement Canada, it flies from a 10.7-metre flagpole and is replaced every working day, except on statutory holidays and in poor weather, and whenever it is half-masted. The employee who changes it takes the elevator to the observation deck and climbs 33 metres of stairs and ladders; throughout the 20 to 30 minutes it takes, the flag never touches the ground. Canadian residents can ask for a flag that has flown on Parliament Hill; the wait is now more than 100 years.

Flags at sea and on land

Many flag customs come from the sea. According to Canadian Heritage, the yardarm and gaff on a flagpole, used by naval establishments on land, are inspired by the display of flags on board ships, and the expression “to show one’s true colours” may come from warships that flew the colours of friendly nations before hoisting their own at the moment of attack. The staffs on His Majesty’s Canadian Ships still carry a painted crown finial, a naval tradition.

Newer flags

Most provincial and territorial flags are younger than Confederation: Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick adopted theirs in 1965, Yukon in 1967, Alberta in 1968, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories in 1969, and Newfoundland and Labrador in 1980. The newest is the flag of Nunavut, granted by the Governor General on 1 April 1999, designed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority with input from Inuit communities and artists. The Canadian Heraldic Authority itself was created in 1988 to administer official heraldry in Canada.

Historical flags today

Canadian Heritage has a policy on historical flags, used by the federal government and available as a guide to others. Historical flags may be flown where research shows a meaningful link with the place, where their design is well documented and where the public can learn why they are displayed. They fly on their own poles, lower than and away from the National Flag, whose lower edge the top of a historical flag never exceeds. More in the guide to flag types.