# Canada's Flag is 50 Years Old Today! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 15, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756 "2015-02-15T22:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/1 "2015-02-15T22:42:50Z")
[Canada’s Flag](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Canada#mediaviewer/File:Flag_of_Canada.svg) Fifty years ago today, at noon, Canada’s Maple Leaf flag was first hoisted above the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. The Flag Debate of 1964 was ranourous. It embodied two fundamentally different views of Canada. Prime Minister Mike Pearson viewed Canada as a fully independent, multi-cultural nation, with inheritances from both Britain and France, but its own nation. Canada thus needed a flag that was uniquely Canadian. On the other side, the Leader of the Opposition, John Diefenbaker, whose vision of Canada included a strong link to the British Empire, and fought to the bitter end for the flag to contain symbols of the British connection. Pearson’s view of Canada prevailed, and the Maple Leaf is the result. Through shrewd politicking and personal bravery, such as first announcing his plan for a new flag to the national meeting of the Canadian Legion, a hostile audience, Pearson won over the support he needed in a minority Parliament. He was prepared to bend when needed, giving up on his own personal favourite design (the [“Pearson Pennant”](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canada_Pearson_Pennant_1964.svg)), when he saw that was needed for the final goal. At the end, he needed to invoke closure because of the bitter opposition from Diefenbaker. And the flag has gone everywhere since, all over the world, and [even outer space](http://284463341298395511.weebly.com/canadarm.html), as a striking symbol of Canada. Pearson won the debate then, and he’s won it in the succeeding half century. It’s hard to imagine Canada today without its flag. **Thanks, Mike!** 🙂 (Detailed story from the Hamilton Spectator: [Canada’ s Maple Leaf Flag Born Amid Bitter Debate](http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5340104-canada-s-maple-leaf-flag-born-amid-bitter-debate/)) ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/2 "2015-02-15T22:51:29Z")
They tried to tell Harper, but the War of 1812 takes precedence. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/3 "2015-02-15T23:02:31Z")
[How well do you know Canada’s flag? Take the quiz.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/multimedia/how-well-do-you-know-canada-s-flag-take-the-quiz-1.2954493) I scored 7 out of 10 - missed questions 5, 6 and 8. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/4 "2015-02-15T23:09:27Z")
Here’s some of the designs that didn’t make the cut, courtesy HuffPost: “[Beavers were popular](http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/16/canadian-flag-designs-photos_n_4109726.html).” (Get your mind out of the gutter. They’re referring to [Castor canadensis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_beaver). I think.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/5 "2015-02-15T23:13:47Z")
One personal weirdness for me is that, since I was born less than 50 years ago, I have always known this as Canada’s only flag. On the other hand my mother, the reason I am a Canadian, left Canada at age 20 just over 50 years ago, before it was in place. Somehow, the subject never came up, and I was absolutely gobsmacked when I found out she’d lived her Canadian years under an entirely different flag. American bias, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/6 "2015-02-15T23:20:54Z")
And without Mike Pearson, how could we have had this wonderfully goofy advert for people like **Dr. Drake** : [Waking up Canadian?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDeDQpIQFD0) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/7 "2015-02-15T23:22:25Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > They tried to tell Harper, but the War of 1812 takes precedence. Seriously? This comment does not belong in this thread. Get lost. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/8 "2015-02-15T23:25:35Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And without Mike Pearson, how could we have had this wonderfully goofy advert for people like **Dr. Drake** : [Waking up Canadian?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDeDQpIQFD0) It was a bit like that, though without the sexy mountie at my door. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/9 "2015-02-15T23:29:39Z")
But you did get a hockey player, right? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/10 "2015-02-15T23:33:47Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > But you did get a hockey player, right? Yes, but it was only an L.A. King. Budget cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/11 "2015-02-15T23:42:58Z")
I think Canada has one of the coolest flags in the world: instantly recognizable. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/12 "2015-02-15T23:54:32Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > [How well do you know Canada’s flag? Take the quiz.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/multimedia/how-well-do-you-know-canada-s-flag-take-the-quiz-1.2954493) > > I scored 7 out of 10 - missed questions 5, 6 and 8. I only got 4 out of 10. But I’m not Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/13 "2015-02-16T00:06:56Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > [How well do you know Canada’s flag? Take the quiz.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/multimedia/how-well-do-you-know-canada-s-flag-take-the-quiz-1.2954493) > > I scored 7 out of 10 - missed questions 5, 6 and 8. 5/10, but I was simply lucky for a few of them. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/14 "2015-02-16T00:07:26Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I think Canada has one of the coolest flags in the world: instantly recognizable. This. Thanks to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/15 "2015-02-16T00:55:05Z")
No moose flags were put forth? Seriously, this is interesting. I was unaware that the Canadian flag was such a recent development. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/16 "2015-02-16T01:02:59Z")
You look at that flag and say “those Canadians must be very likable.” We should do something like that. Maybe that turkey we drew in kindergarten by tracing around our hand. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/17 "2015-02-16T01:20:32Z")
I have a couple of vague memories of when the flag started being used. The first memory is touring the RCMP museum in Regina with my family, and Dad commenting to the commissionaire about the new flag flying. The commissionaire made some comment about it just having been put up. So that means that I can date my family’s trip to the RCMP Museum to sometime around February 15, 1965, because it was linked to A Great National Event. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/18 "2015-02-16T01:38:10Z")
My second memory is my Dad teasing my Grammie about the new flag. Dad wasn’t a big fan of it, being a Saskatchewan Tory and all, but he accepted it (unlike Diefenbaker!) My Grammie didn’t like the new flag, because it didn’t have the Union Jack on it. She was the daughter of Scottish emigrants, who grew up in a Scottish community on the Prairies, and for her, King and Empire were a major part of Canada’s identity. Mind you, she hadn’t been all that keen on the Red Ensign itself, even tho’ it had the Jack, because she was old enough to remember when Canada flew the Union Jack itself! None of this ensign with the Jack in the corner business. Given that history, my Dad would tease her about the new flag, because she lived just down the street from the town Post Office, which of course flew the flag. Dad would comment about what a fine view she had of the new flag. For the rest of her life, until she moved into the nursing home, she saw the new flag every day from her living room window. I think by the end, even Grammie came to appreciate it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/19 "2015-02-16T02:52:22Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > You look at that flag and say “those Canadians must be very likable.” > > We should do something like that. Maybe that turkey we drew in kindergarten by tracing around our hand. If you trace your left hand, you get a map of Canada! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756/20 "2015-02-16T04:07:02Z")
Yes, I remember the debate on the new flag design. In a way, Diefenbaker didn’t entirely lose. Look closely at the maple leaf. Its top half is comprised of three crowns. I wonder whether that was deliberate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadas-flag-is-50-years-old-today/712756.md?page=2)