Reply hazy, try again.
The reason is simple - it’s not entirely made up. Canada wasn’t yet autonomous of Britain (which didn’t occur until the 20th century), but the War of 1812 and the burning of the White House did happen and it occurred partly as retaliation for US action in Canada (and they’re still quite rightly proud they turned back our invasion attempt). It’s closer to a matter of very loose interpretation to say Canadians were responsible for the burning rather than the British.
That’s opposed to the flag story, which was largely exaggerated/fabricated out of whole cloth, as it were.
It’s never framed as that though, it’s always literally framed as “Canadian soldiers marched down from Canada and burned the White House directly”
Yes, of course. The Simpsons already did it:
They’re still making and selling them. They are, after all, real American flags from a particular historical moment. Older designs don’t expire.