A Canadian Flag for Canada

Abstract

The Maple Leaf Flag has proven to be an outstanding symbol. Following Confederation, Canada waited nearly a century to establish its national flag, a lacuna which did not result from indifference. It stemmed from the ambiguities of both national identity and flag protocol — ambiguities which became manifest in the informal flags used and proposed. While a maple leaf had long been the clear choice as the national symbol, early proposals used it only as a Canadian beachhead upon a British flag. Only after the Statute of Westminster was there any attempt to use it to capture the whole flag for Canada.