Happy Birthday, Maple Leaf!
February 14, 2015 11:00 PM   Subscribe

Today is the fiftieth birthday of the Canadian flag. Questions have been raised, however, as to why the federal government has more or less ignored it.

For fun, the Toronto Star rounded up some of the submissions sent in by children fifty years ago.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering (71 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
It is ignored because our leader is a petty man.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:08 PM on February 14, 2015 [23 favorites]


Obviously because it's the Harper government not a Canadian government.
posted by benzenedream at 11:26 PM on February 14, 2015 [11 favorites]


What are the odds on Harper trying to bring back The Red Ensign?
posted by benito.strauss at 11:39 PM on February 14, 2015 [3 favorites]


"Everybody thinks my sweater would make a good flag for Canada so I traced it and made a flag from it. I hope you like it. My sweater was knitted by a friend, I will send it to you if you like because I am growing out of it"
posted by asperity at 11:51 PM on February 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


And Anne of Green Gable comes back to me ( the anime). She drew a rainbow with children dancing I circles under it, so close to some of the children's submissions.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 12:06 AM on February 15, 2015


The beaver sweater submission is awesome.

Harper sucks. They're only ignoring the flag because uses Liberal colours and was a Liberal thing and people might think of Pearson and what a good prime minister looks like.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 12:14 AM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


Canada is our closet neighbor, should I be concerned? Is Harper really bad. Will you still build us a bridge? I love your flag. My folk came from Canada.
Sorry about pollution, you were right.

Sincerely, concerned in Michigan.
posted by clavdivs at 1:09 AM on February 15, 2015 [6 favorites]


Canada is our closet neighbor

I know we don't always like to admit it, but I wouldn't go quite that far.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:41 AM on February 15, 2015 [8 favorites]


I love our flag. I got mine when Sheila Copps was giving them away. I even ordered it online via a text based browser.
posted by aclevername at 2:07 AM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


Every now and then Australia and New Zealand discuss ditching their flags with the Union Jack in the corner, but the suggestion never goes anywhere. Canada actually did it - and 50 years ago at that. Congratulations, Canada!
posted by Autumn Leaf at 3:36 AM on February 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


Obviously because it's the Harper government not a Canadian government.

He's been Prime Minister for a decade. We shouldn't pretend that doesn't say something about Canada.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 4:15 AM on February 15, 2015 [10 favorites]


On the other hand, a big deal was only made about Flag Day starting 20 years ago, in the wake of the last Quebec separation referendum, and at the time that was looked on as a brazenly partisan ploy. It's a made up holiday that will come and go as political expedience dictates, regardless of the party.
posted by cardboard at 4:37 AM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


The beaver is a magnificent animal!
posted by carmicha at 4:40 AM on February 15, 2015


"Beaver works hard for you"


Good enough for gas stations. Should've been on the flag.
posted by chasles at 4:50 AM on February 15, 2015


He's been Prime Minister for a decade. We shouldn't pretend that doesn't say something about Canada.

Like what? Elections are won riding by riding? First-past-the post will often result in governments *without* a plurarity especially when one side of the spetrum features a variety of parties? Or that low voter turnout makes it easier for parties that speak to a very narrow section of the electorate to win?

The Cons got 46% of the popular vote in the last election and as I recall voter participation was 60%.

Increase voter turnout and you will get a different result. Greens have won three provincial and federal seats, and also supported Victoria BC's new mayor.

In all four of these races voter turnout was over 70%, which indicates to me that politics in Canada is kind of broken.

And we also need to watch for strategies aimed at disengaging public interest in politics, plus tactics aimed at disenfranchising voters - very real dangers.
posted by Nevin at 5:13 AM on February 15, 2015 [8 favorites]


Maple Maple, crimson bright,
On the flagpoles, wind-stretched tight;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
posted by fairmettle at 5:19 AM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


This California girl addressed her letter to the “King of Canada.”

Patience, little girl. Steve's working on it. Rome wasn't built in a day, you know.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:30 AM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


Did you know if you are red-green colorblind (almost 10% of the males) the Canadian flag looks very very very much like the cannabis flag?
posted by bukvich at 6:34 AM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oh my god people...I hate Harper as much as the next guy, but we're going to get on his ass about the damn flag?

I've seen it celebrated in plenty of other places; I don't really care that the government hasn't issued some boilerplate press release. Bigger fish to fry.

Can we have one MeFi thread about Canada that doesn't turn into a Harper bitchfest?

Our flag is awesome.
posted by dry white toast at 6:35 AM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


I love our flag, unabashedly. It avoids the tricolour pattern that is far, far overdone (it's 1:2:1 rather than 1:1:1), horizontally symmetric, and the Maple Leaf is an old symbol of the (admittedly, colonist-only) Canadian community.

Similarly, Canada's at the forefront of expanding conceptions of heraldry. This is a pretty good article about how it became democratic - essentially you need a grand and a clean record. Tons of new animals (caribou mermaid! Narwhales!) Nunavut's arms use Inuktitut, and other aboriginal scripts are common. This random guy has a cougar holding a menorah! Surrounded by coins from Byzantium! It is delightful!

...sorry I get excited. At some point in my life I will get a lemur-dominant coat of arms, just because.
posted by Lemurrhea at 6:58 AM on February 15, 2015 [9 favorites]


Easily one of the best flags in the world. Striking, stylish, simple. Hard to do much better than that in my book.
posted by banal retentive at 7:35 AM on February 15, 2015 [9 favorites]


Easily one of the best flags in the world. Striking, stylish, simple. Hard to do much better than that in my book.

Hear hear. And to think that some of the other contenders had coats of arms or whole other flags or such embedded in them, which is overcomplication or at least veering towards it, and it involved complex political football that the current one emerged victorious. Did we ever get lucky (Canadian expat speaking).
posted by finka at 7:57 AM on February 15, 2015


Did you know if you are red-green colorblind (almost 10% of the males) the Canadian flag looks very very very much like the cannabis flag?

Actually, there's a version of it that I've seen around that's a red version of that flag, so yeah, pretty much exactly even for those that aren't colourblind! Sold here, par example, as the O Cannabis Canadian flag.

"Beaver works hard for you"

Good enough for gas stations. Should've been on the flag.


Let's not forget Beaver Lumber. Your "lumber one store," as their radio jingle went when I was a kid. Je me souviens.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:25 AM on February 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


It's a pretty flag.
posted by furtive at 8:26 AM on February 15, 2015


The letter accompanying the flag proposal addressed to the "King of Canada" is amazing:

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sending you a new Flag and I hope you like it. I read in paper that you need a new one.” She closed with a drawing of a heart. "This is not the flag."
posted by Pfardentrott at 8:27 AM on February 15, 2015


Can we have one MeFi thread about Canada that doesn't turn into a Harper bitchfest?

Just as soon as Harper stops staring into space with his dead eyes while he transparently daydreams about eating human flesh.

So not anytime soon.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:31 AM on February 15, 2015 [9 favorites]


Speaking of flags: previously.

If you're not hitting Google from Canada, I strongly recommend checking out today's Google.ca flag doodle. Works very well with one of the Google logo colours, no?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:37 AM on February 15, 2015


The cannabis leaf/Canadian flag is definitely a staple of dorms/student houses around here.

As a kid I disliked the flag because I found the maple leaf hard to draw. Now I know it could have been much worse. (Not talking about the kids' submissions--those are cute.)

I still think our national anthem is the dumps though.
posted by quaking fajita at 8:47 AM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


The cannabis leaf/Canadian flag is definitely a staple of dorms/student houses around here.

I think there was a point at which the cannabis version replaced the regular flag as Canada's Official Student Window Treatment. Like, it's enshrined in legislation now or something. An Act Respecting the Use of Canadian Flag Variants in Student Housing or some such.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:52 AM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's a made up holiday that will come and go as political expedience dictates, regardless of the party.

A number of us already have a made-up holiday in February (BC, AB, SK, ON, MB, NB, PEI). I never understood why it wasn't Flag Day, when the opportunity was right there.

Anyway, I love our flag design - simple and unmistakable and iconic. I am always a little confused when I see maple syrup from Vermont, because to me the maple leaf is a symbol of Canada first, and maple trees second.
posted by invokeuse at 8:54 AM on February 15, 2015


Like what? Elections are won riding by riding? First-past-the post will often result in governments *without* a plurarity especially when one side of the spetrum features a variety of parties? Or that low voter turnout makes it easier for parties that speak to a very narrow section of the electorate to win?

The Cons got 46% of the popular vote in the last election and as I recall voter participation was 60%.


Actually the Cons got 39.6% of the popular vote and turnout was 61%, which strengthens your argument.

Signed sincerely, someone from a province where the CPC finished in 3rd place in 2011
posted by erlking at 8:55 AM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


a made up holiday

regardless of the veracity of the rest of the argument.... all holidays are made up.
posted by edgeways at 9:03 AM on February 15, 2015 [7 favorites]


I strongly recommend checking out today's Google.ca flag doodle.

Clicking through to see the rest of the Canada related Google doodles this one from 2004 puzzled me. Canada Day 2004. ... a penguin?
posted by edgeways at 9:08 AM on February 15, 2015


Clicking through to see the rest of the Canada related Google doodles this one from 2004 puzzled me. Canada Day 2004. ... a penguin?

Pretty sure that's a loon.
posted by firechicago at 9:10 AM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


Usask has an interesting site with more history about the flag (including other proposed designs).

Although the Pearson Pennant lost, it eventually won.
posted by Poldo at 9:10 AM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


            888888888888888~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~888888888888888
            888888888888888            /\            888888888888888
            888888888888888         i\/  \/i         888888888888888
            888888888888888   __i\  |      |  /i__   888888888888888
            888888888888888   \    \|      |/    /   888888888888888
            888888888888888   \                  /   888888888888888
            888888888888888     \              /     888888888888888
            888888888888888      /            \      888888888888888
            888888888888888      ~~~~~~||~~~~~~      888888888888888
            888888888888888            ||            888888888888888
            888888888888888            ||            888888888888888
            888888888888888__________________________888888888888888
posted by mazola at 9:11 AM on February 15, 2015 [9 favorites]


The cannabis leaf/Canadian flag is definitely a staple of dorms/student houses around here.

The Cannabis Day bacchanalia used to happen on July 1, until complaints from parents who'd taken their kids to the park to see the Canada Day fireworks convinced the pot party planners to move it to 4/20. That's why those flags are a thing.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:14 AM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


Yeah. It's a loon, eh?

Loons loom so large in our national storytelling that we call our two-dollar coin the "Toonie" even though it has a polar bear on it. True story.

O.k. That may require some context.

It's because we replaced our one-dollar bill with a coin back in 1987. Featuring a loon, it became known at the Loonie in short order. Even though the two-dollar coin replaced the two-dollar bill almost ten years later, there was only one thing we could call it.

Anyway, you should see the change bowl in our front hallway. You'd be amazed at how quickly you accumulate enough change for a nice dinner out when you have one and two dollar currency in coins.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:18 AM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Anyway, you should see the change bowl in our front hallway. You'd be amazed at how quickly you accumulate enough change for a nice dinner out when you have one and two dollar currency in coins.

For real! We dump all our change into a large bucket in our home and roll it every two years. The amount has paid for plane tickets to the UK many times in past six years.
posted by Kitteh at 9:31 AM on February 15, 2015


Maybe it was some kind of far-sighted strategy to increase the rate of personal savings?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:33 AM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


It's Flag day, Harper, Flag. You can relax and celebrate this one.
posted by Bovine Love at 9:34 AM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


Pretty sure that's a loon.

oh aye.. I see it now. Strange that it can also look penguin ish to me.
(ex pat Canadian living across the boarder in MN so well versed in Loonology)

A handful of years ago went back to NFLD (where I grew up) for a vacation, and beforehand unearthed a handful of $2 bills laying about the house (as well as the loonies and toonies) to use for pocket $. Man, people where ecstatic about getting those $2 bills.
posted by edgeways at 9:49 AM on February 15, 2015


That Toonie looks like a subway or arcade token. But your flag is awesome. As is your national anthem. I love it so much. I choke up every time I hear it.
posted by KingEdRa at 9:49 AM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


But your flag is awesome.

If you're into comics, it was put to good use in some Canadian cover variants for origins/death of Wolverine. I think that origins cover is great.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:03 AM on February 15, 2015


If we're going to segue into currency chat for a moment, I've always been fond of the Poppy quarters the US spy agencies feared were secret radiotransmitters.
posted by angerbot at 10:04 AM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


What an odd synchronicity! Last night I was watching the fantastic Canadian show Bomb Girls, which is about the women working in a World War II bomb factory on the east end of Toronto. I noticed that none of the flags on display in the show were the familiar maple leaf. Thus it happened that I learned the history of the modern Canadian flag on the eve of its fiftieth birthday.
posted by workerant at 10:14 AM on February 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


Speaking of our flag and anthem, there was this little incident, involving the Canadian flag being displayed upside down.

If you watch it, though, I'd contend that the truly insulting thing was Tom Cochrane's rendition of O Canada. The flag thing? That just seemed like an honest mistake.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:16 AM on February 15, 2015


invokeuse: "I never understood why it wasn't Flag Day, when the opportunity was right there. "

Flag day is fixed on the 15th; the February holiday floats to always be on Monday.
posted by Mitheral at 10:31 AM on February 15, 2015


I wish I could find my posterboard with my third-grade report on the Canadian flag. I'm sure it's somewhere in the crawl space of my parents' house. I remember it being a surprise that the flag hadn't always been that way (well, when you're eight and something's been around your whole life, you know).

My American (now-Canadian as of November) husband (we met in the US) gave me a Canadian flag for Valentine's Day one year, but I guess he was really just one day early for Flag Day. Don't you hate it when you're Canadian and in a relationship and your significant other gives you a gift that's just "for both?" (My birthday's a week before Christmas, by the way. I actually loved the flag.) He also gave me a MeFi account, so, reader, I married him.
posted by ilana at 10:51 AM on February 15, 2015 [6 favorites]


Side note on the Loonie: it came about in part because the original Voyageur-design die for the new coins got lost in transit. The alternate "loon" design was used to foil potential counterfeiters.

But anyway: the Canadian flag design kicks ass, and it's being celebrated plenty without the Harperbot's endorsement.
posted by spoobnooble II: electric bugaboo at 11:10 AM on February 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


The Snowbirds -- no, not that kind -- demonstrate the maple leaf formation.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:11 AM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Since we're talking about loonies, anyone else notice how green they look in recent years? What's the deal with that?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:05 PM on February 15, 2015


I, for one, am looking forward to the Trudeau bitchfests starting this fall after his sweatervestness has been told to fiddlefaddle-off.
posted by bonehead at 12:05 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


This was one of the most popular songs at the time might be NSFW which reflected all the turmoil that surrounded the flag with some satire of course. This whole album was pure Canadiana.
posted by smudgedlens at 12:13 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


I think perhaps the worst thing about Harper is that he makes Mulroney look good. Kinda like how Rob Ford made me miss Mel Lastman.

ps, Lemurrhea, the division of the field in the Canadian flag is now known as a Canadian pale in heraldry. I seem to recall reading it's now been used internationally, can't remember if England or South Africa.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:23 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Was just reading this article about the designs Canada could have had. Anyone know if it's possible to find a copy of the design that's just eleven beavers?
posted by jessamyn at 1:06 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


Thanks so much for this! I had no idea the Maple Leaf flag was so young. I was born in Canada but left when I was still a toddler for the US, yet I've always had a soft spot for the Maple Leaf. It always makes for such stylish and distinctive Olympic outfits for the Canadian athletes.
posted by Pocahontas at 1:20 PM on February 15, 2015


Anyone know if it's possible to find a copy of the design that's just eleven beavers?

It seems that the National Archives has it. Is this what you were thinking of?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:30 PM on February 15, 2015


D'oh. Never mind. It's a beaver surrounded by maple leaves. Hadn't looked at the larger jpeg yet.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:32 PM on February 15, 2015




...the original Voyageur-design die for the new coins got lost in transit.

And what isn't more Canadian than voyageurs, really?

Obligatory Kids in the Hall voyageur sketch.

Also, quick shoutout to both the flag and the anthem in the last minute or so of this KITH sketch.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:01 PM on February 15, 2015 [8 favorites]


And what isn't more Canadian than voyageurs, really?

Well...
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:07 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


Two young visitors from Stuttgart, Germany, Alina Klopfer, 22, and Michael Rehme, 21...seemed, well, rather underwhelmed, albeit diplomatic about being so. “A nice bonus for people already coming to the museum, I guess,” Mr. Rehme said, “but not worth going to see.”

Translated from the less diplomatic German:

"Ein netter Bonus, ja, aber wirklich eine beschissene Ausstellung, eine Peinlichkeit für Kanada, eine Schande für die ganze Menschheit. Die Geschichte dieser zwei rote Balken und eine Ahornblatt verdient von den Dächern trompetet werden, kreischte aus Lautsprechern, brüllte in die Gesichter aller Passanten. Bumsen dieser Ausstellung, fick Ottawa, und Stephen Harper, gehen Sie Geschlechtsverkehr haben mit Ihrem eigenen verdammten Gesicht."
posted by Beardman at 2:43 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


There's a Canadian flag displayed at every ice rink that I've been to in Southern California. In the minds of Californians - wherever there is ice, there is Canada.
posted by Edward L at 5:32 PM on February 15, 2015




That would actually make a pretty cool dress!
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:15 PM on February 15, 2015


As an adoptive Canadian, I love the maple leaf design. Every time I hear "Oh Canada", it affects me greatly, this country has welcomed me in and let me call it home.
posted by arcticseal at 9:22 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Note from Australia — your flag is a thousand times better than the forelock-tugging mishmash suckhole of ours. Go you.
posted by Wolof at 10:14 PM on February 15, 2015 [2 favorites]


Australia's flag should be as venomous and freaky as their flora and fauna.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:53 PM on February 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


In a sane world just looking at Australia's flag should cause partial paralysis, and come with a drug-label litany of possible side effects.
posted by edgeways at 5:10 AM on February 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


Seems that the Fords are supporting underwhelming typography for the anniversary.
posted by scruss at 10:05 AM on February 16, 2015


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