Shucking Oysters: Red Flags
By Alex Allen
You can’t use it as a tablecloth or mark on it, but when it has reached the end of its life you should destroy it in a dignified way by burning it privately. We’re not talking about a 1980s Grapevine. We’re talking about our Canadian flag. According to the Heritage department, this method of final disposition is “the way to preserve a tattered flag’s dignity.” And a way to preserve a tattered country’s dignity? Fly your flag with patriotic pride, which is not the most natural reflex for Canadians. As Ryan Montgomery wrote, “flag-waving, fist pumping, and screaming til you’re red-white-and-blue in the face puts a bad taste in our mouths.” That is until February 1, 2, 3, 4…it’s been the maple leaf forever.
We’re not a typically nationalistic bunch. But nothing like threatening our sovereignty, insulting our intelligence, and treating us with contempt, to get our patriotism boiling. In Ottawa, Vancouver, and Montreal, hockey fans fervently booed and jeered the star-spangled banner. In Montgomery’s words, “Where once drunk NHL fans stood silent with their hands over their hearts and their team-branded hats solemnly removed from their heads. Now, the deafening roar of national displeasure drained out the feeble voices of singers wishing they had taken another gig.”
In our current existential political climate, Bradley Miller, UBC associate professor of history, said the flag is a symbol of defiance. As the Trump administration continues to portray Canada as Enemy #1, we are witnessing a growing sense of unity across all sides of the political spectrum. And for many, that unCanadian feeling includes reclaiming our flag.
Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at UBC, said people are again seeing the flag as a symbol of tolerance and inclusion, and of Canadian distinctiveness from the US. During the “Freedom Convoy” protests, it “came to symbolize a new form of identity,” he said, but now Canadians of all political stripes are being urged to wave the flag proudly.
At high noon, February 15, 1965, on Parliament Hill, Canada’s iconic red and white maple leaf flag was raised for the first time. Today the flag is again uniting us Canadians. Like the raised index finger greeting off the steering wheel, it’s a sign that we are a member of a select community. We are one. Yet the evolution of the Canadian flag was far from oneness. It was a time of aesthetic unrest. Politicians and Canadians fought with patriotic fervour on the idea of having a new flag and the finer details of the new design.
1964. Liberal Prime Minister Lester Pearson had proposed creating a new flag to unify Canada, recognize its ties to the Commonwealth and soothe Quebec. John Diefenbaker, the Progressive-Conservative opposition leader, wanted to stay with the British Union flag simply as a way of preserving Canada’s ties.
Eventually a flag committee considered almost 6,000 designs – most featuring the proverbial maple leaf. Others poured in with animals such as Canada geese, grizzlies, moose, salmon, bison and caribou. One design showed a beaver wearing a Mountie hat. Another with a Mountie and an Indigenous person shaking hands.
Despite the variety, the maple leaf symbol persisted. In October 1964, graphic artist Alan Beddoe presented the all-party parliamentary committee with 15 finalists. In the end, 10 of the 14 committee members voted for former UBC history professor, George Stanley’s flag concept, with a stylized 11-point red maple leaf, which after a few tweaks, is the current design we proudly fly today.
The original designers wanted a flag uncluttered and simple enough for a child to draw. Indeed, we can all attest to drawing maple leafs during our formative years. “The single leaf has the virtue of simplicity,” Stanley wrote. “It emphasizes the distinctive Canadian symbol and suggests the idea of loyalty to a single country.”
Bradley Miller, associate professor of history at UBC, said the design of the flag, with no military or religious symbols, makes it adaptable. “It represents whatever we want it to represent,” Miller said. “Having a symbol, a flag, that is as much a blank slate as ours is an advantage to a country that needs to be able to accommodate.” (Or at least pretend to accommodate.)
Now, about those red flags. Studies warn us to rethink our relationship, if for example our partner tries to control us on where to go, how to spend our money, and even what to eat. Other reasons, our partner lies, distorts history, accuses us of overreacting, making us crazy. If your partner shows no sign of rehabilitation, just walk away. And if all else fails you could raise a few white flags…
