Sixty years ago on February 15, 1965, Canada officially adopted its current flag as our national emblem. It was a big deal and I remember it very well. I was in Grade 2 at the time and we spent weeks using up all our red crayons to colour endless mimeographed copies of our new flag.
The new flag was one more step in Canada's evolution away from Britain. Since Confederation in 1867, our flag had been the Red Ensign, with its emphasis on the Union Jack, English, Scottish and Irish settlers, French settlers, and some maple leaf symbolism:
Apart from the Canadian Flag's 60th anniversary, Canadians are being asked today to display our flag in front of our homes, on our balconies, in our windows, on our vehicles, and everywhere else, for another reason as well.
Canadian leaders have called for a national mass display of the flag this weekend to demonstrate our unity in the face of the Trump administration's threats, bullying and intimidation tactics against our economy and especially against our sovereignty as an independent country.
I don't have an actual flag to put on my balcony, so I'm flying a virtual one here on my blog instead.
And what the hell, since I'm being patriotic anyway, here's a video of the incomparable Ginette Reno singing O Canada in French and English at a Montreal Canadiens hockey game a few years ago too.
16 comments:
I'd like to get the red crayon contract for the Canadian schools.
This made me tear up. We have always loved Canada and tried to move there years ago. You have a beautiful country and your pride in it is to be envied. So many of us hate what Age Orange and his cronies are saying about, and doing to, Canada and our relationship with you. I am proud of Canada, NOT the USA!
...good for you! As a young boy I remember the Red Ensign flag. Your current flag is a fabulous design, fly it proudly!
Canada has a very beautiful flag; and I congratulate your 60 years anniversary 🫡🎉
I didn't know. I'll have a find a flag, thanks for sharing. That woman has an amazing voice.
No one can do it like Ginette. Go Canada!
I never knew Canada had a different original flag; I'd only seen the maple leaf one.
And now I wish I had a Canadian flag because I'd fly it today in support!
Fantastic! Thank you for the history lesson! It is a lovely country that I look forward to visiting again! Rade
What a powerful and inspiring rendition of "O Canada" by Ginette Reno - a mature singer with absolute faith in her ability to deliver the anthem to a packed stadium. Even though I am not Canadian, it brought tears to my eyes - partly because of recent demonic threats from south of the border.
Happy maple leaf flag day! I remember my Canadian sisters getting all up in their feels about this, very excited to ditch the colonial one.
It's appropriate to have a big show of solidarity today, too. Heck, if I had a maple leaf flag I'd fly it too!
Sorry about HWSNBN, he is an idiot, most of us didn't vote for him. Feel free to run him out of office.
On a call yesterday, someone pointed out that Canada would be 20 states, 40 new senators, who are all accustomed to having universal health coverage, fair wages, limited military spending.
Flying the flag…and so are several neighbours!🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
We’ve always enjoyed our trips to Canada. We took a family trip to Quebec when I was 14 and I remember when I was going to college in Vermont and a friend and I hitchhiked to Montreal. Hubs and I have been there several times and had a great time in Vancouver,BC. We support Canada in every way that will thwart the evil machinations of the felonious liar who has usurped the presidency of the US.
I'm glad that Canada is standing up to our awful current president. Thank you!
oh canada!!!! wave that flag!!
Hello Debra, To help you celebrate the Canadian flag, I saved the image then opened it in its own window, so it will be flying on my computer all day.
By the way, the link to the song did not appear so I looked it up on Youtube. Quite a commanding performance, and one got the feeling the she really did not need that microphone! I also looked up Ginette Reno in Wikipedia, and she has had an impressive career.
--Jim
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