National colours of Canada red "in recognition of Canada's official colours". The proclamation accepts both colours for the maple leaves, stating ""three maple leaves conjoined on one stem proper"", in which "proper" refers to the natural colour of the leaves, which is green in spring and summer, and red in autumn. It was not until 1961, with the creation of The Queen's Personal Canadian Flag, that red and white became entrenched as the national colours. For the Federal Identity Program operated by the Treasury Board Secretariat of the Government of Canada, official and signage colours are specified in technical specification T-145. The red colour
Nailing the colours in fact struck. In the Royal Navy, Jack Crawford became famous for the deed. Nailing the colours Nailing the colours (also nailing the colours to the mast or nailing the flag) is a practice dating back to the Age of Sail that expresses a defiant refusal to surrender, and willingness to fight to the last man. During the Age of Sail, ships would legally fight only while flying their national flag. Flying another flag was considered to be a legitimate ruse de guerre only until the beginning of the fight. Striking the colours was a sign of surrender. Indeed, when