Posted on 12/31/2013 5:57:48 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Canada's "maple leaf" is one of the most readily recognized flags on earth. Meet the man who was given six weeks to come up with it, back in 1964.
From pop artist Charles Pachter’s series of Canadian flag paintings:
Will the flag he championed fly at half-mast?
That was my first thought upon hearing that World War II veteran-turned Member of Parliament John Ross Matheson passed away last Friday.
Given his keen amateur interest in heraldry, Matheson was the perfect choice to lead Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson’s quest to create a new Canadian flag, one that would symbolically separate the former colony from Great Britain.
Canada’s unofficial flag had long been the “Red Ensign,” a combination of the British Union Jack and the Canadian coat of arms.
It’s true: almost a hundred years after Confederation, we still had no official national flag.
As the big centenary neared, the Liberal government figured we’d better finally get our act together.
Not everyone was enthusiastic about getting rid of the Red Ensign, of course.
As tends to happen up here, whatever the ostensible topic, the resulting parliamentary debate turned into a sometimes heated national conversation about “Canadian identity.”
A committee was struck and informed that they had six weeks to come up with a design. (Nope, not “months” or “years.”)
The committee asked Canadians to send in suggestions, with predictable results.
I like the one with one of The Beatles in each corner — it was 1964, after all.
And to this day, not everyone loves the final design. I doubt I’m the first person to opine that a dead leaf — basically tree dandruff — isn’t the noblest national symbol.
However, I can’t deny that purely from a design (and therefore, a marketing) perspective, Canada’s new flag has been a great success.
Just ask the countless Americans who supposedly sew them onto their knapsacks before their treks through Europe, hoping for warmer welcomes.
During his tenure, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has achieved what many would’ve called impossible: He’s made it “cool” for Canadians to show their patriotism through flag waving, long scorned as an “American” gesture.
Yet I doubt that before today, many younger Canadians could name “the father of the flag.”
This widely aired, corny old “Heritage Minute” commercial celebrates John Matheson’s efforts. I expect it will be getting quite a few hits this week.
At Queenston Heights and Lundy’s Lane
Our brave fathers side by side
For freedom’s right and loved ones dear
Firmly stood and nobly died. And those dear rights which they maintained
We swear to yield them never.
Our watchword evermore shall be
The Maple Leaf forever.
Yes, it was the FLQ to which I was referring. I have trouble recalling the alphabet soup of ancient terrorist groups.
Won’t argue the date range assigned by historians, but from recollections of that period some of the mailbox bombings preceded the formation of the FLQ which gathered the loose disaffected Quebecois into a political organization. The truly nasty stuff followed.
In an era where whole parts of cities here were set aflame most of us here noted the mailbox bombings with bafflement. Some of us were aware of the real underlying danger of the surrender to multiculturalism, a virulent toxin still evolving in Canada as well as here.
LOL!
That’s a real treasure. Thank you!
(Maybe you should post it on Free Dominion.)
;>)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx_T1R026Wc
J'aime l'air. Mais mon Dieu, cettes paroles provocantes! C'est la definition du anti-papisme, aussi le "Jingoism."
(O pardon ... un mot anglais! ... je vous prie pardon!)
Mais oui, d'accord. Depuis la arrivée a Miquélon et changer de nom!
Since so many people in Montreal are from Italian, Maltese families, and the oidd Montenegrin shouldn't there be a section of the ensign with Red White and Green somewhere? Evviva Borbone!
Also, for the Irish, the Harp should be MUCH bigger. Plate of Haggis for the Scots? Change the Heraldic Leopards and Lions to sled dogs, replace les Fleurs du Lis with leg traps, and in the center section of the Jack, how about a Zamboni? And what's with the marijuana leaves?
I don't wish to be artistically hypercritical. This is a splendid flag. And in order that so much effort should not be wasted, I recommend it be sold to a breakaway African region.
I visited Canada for the first time last year/J’ai visitee le Canada pour la premiere fois l’annee pasee (see, bilingualism grows on you) and the English/Francais signs/labels/elevator voices were everywhere/partout. And this was in Ontario!
But there’s a huge difference: the English/Spanish aisle signs at your local Lowe’s are the result of a private business decision. The English/Francais public signs in Canada are the result of hard federal law, ruthlessly enforced, because when do the Quebecois ever stop complaining/Je me souviens!
I still prefer the pre-1967 Canadian war flag, BTW.
There are also millions of Canadians of Dutch and Ukrainian ancestry--and don't forget the huge number of Canadians descended from Americans who drifted north of the border.
A lot of the early English-speaking Canadians were United Empire Loyalists who left the United States when we won our independence, but by 1812 a lot of the English-speaking Canadians were descended from Americans who had moved there just to get land. Jefferson thought the conquest of Canada would be simply a matter of marching, but the War of 1812 may have been the decisive event that made Canadians determined never to join the US.
I remember when the all-red Canadian flag was adopted--my mother saw it as Communist-inspired.
Was going to suggest the "Finger in the Dike" motif, but what with the LGBTG community so sensitive these days ....
Makes sense to fly the Red Ensign at the Legion because it was the flag under which all our veterans fought prior to Medak Pocket in 1993.
Precisely so.
I think the Dutch should add a Maple Leaf to their flag’s design, to honour the men who kicked Nazi butt through and out of their country.
Careful there, Treble-8. I smell a possible NATO diplomatic incident here!
Those hard-head Dutchmen are probably convinced they saved Canada. (Canadians being polite, modest, and self-effacing.)
“Just ask the countless Americans who supposedly sew them onto their knapsacks before their treks through Europe, hoping for warmer welcomes.”
Actually, in truth, it should read: “Just ask the countless American LIBERALS who sew them onto their knapsacks before their treks through Europe, hoping they will be seen by the world as non-threatening wimps.”
George III borrowed from the Rothschilds to pay the leader of Hesse (Germany) for the use of his soldiers to fight against us in our Revolution. Many Hessian solders never saw
the money, but were paid with land in Canada after the British surrender. Some drifted back to USA, but many of their descendants are still there....many in Nova Scotia. To this day, no one knows who stole the money, or from whom!
The Medak Pocket? aka, the big Liberal secret.
Not very peace keeping of us , was it?
Hidden Canadian History? This is right up there with the Métis Rebellion.
www.histori.ca/peace/page.do?pageID=233
Eleven months of the year, I do. Every July 1st the Red Ensign gets run up the flagpole in front of our home and stays there all month. The rest of the year it's "the red and white beer label".
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