Great Canadian Flag Debate a blue background. Pearson preferred this choice, as the blue bars reflected Canada's motto, "From Sea to Sea". On June 15, 1964, Pearson opened the parliamentary flag debate with a resolution: Pearson sought to produce a flag which embodied history and tradition, but he also wanted to excise the Union Jack as a reminder of Canada's heritage and links to the United Kingdom. Hence, the issue was not whether the maple leaf was pre-eminently Canadian, but rather whether the nation should exclude the British-related component from its identity. Diefenbaker led the opposition to the Maple Leaf flag, arguing for the
Flag of Zanzibar yellow cloves was added to the flag. On 12 January 1964, John Okello overthrew the Sultan of Zanzibar and adopted a black-yellow-blue tricolour as the flag of the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba. On 29 January, the country's flag was changed to a blue-black-green tricolour with a thin white stripe at the hoist. This design, which was based on the flag of the Afro-Shirazi Party, was the longest-lived of the post-independence flags and eventually formed the basis for the current flag. On 26 April 1964, Zanzibar united with Tanganyika to form the new country of Tanzania and Zanzibar's old