canada got its maple leaf flag on february 15, 1965.
canada got its maple leaf flag on february 15, 1965.
when did canada get its maple leaf flag?
february 15 , 1965
the flag was inaugurated on february 15, 1965, at an official ceremony held on parliament hill in ottawa in the presence of governor general major-general georges vanier, the prime minister, the members of the cabinet, and canadian parliamentarians. also throughout canada, at the united nations in new york city, and at canadian legations and on canadian ships throughout the world, the canadian red ensign was lowered and the maple leaf flag was raised. as journalist george bain wrote of the occasion, the flag "looked bold and clean, and distinctively our own."
great canadian flag debate
at the close of the great canadian flag debate in 1964, which resulted in the adoption of the maple leaf flag as canada's national flag the following year, a resolution was passed by both houses of the canadian parliament naming the union flag as the "royal union flag" and designating it as the symbol of canada's membership of the commonwealth and its allegiance to the crown. the move was a concession given to conservatives, who preferred to keep the old flag, with its union flag in the canton. a federal directive says the royal union flag is to be flown alongside the maple leaf flag at federal government buildings, federally-operated airports and military bases, and at the masthead of her majesty's canadian ships within canadian waters on three days of the year: commonwealth day, the canadian monarch's official birthday, and the anniversary of the enactment of the statute of westminster 1931. the flag is to be raised only where there is more than one flag pole, to ensure the flag of canada is not removed. the directive is sometimes followed, sometimes not.
union jack