Great Canadian Flag Debate on December 15, 1964. It resulted in the adoption of the "Maple Leaf" as the Canadian national flag. The flag was inaugurated on February 15, 1965, and since 1996, February 15 has been commemorated as National Flag of Canada Day. For much of its post-Confederation history, Canada used both the Royal Union Flag (Union Jack) as its national flag, and the Canadian Red Ensign as a popularly recognized and distinctive Canadian flag. The first Canadian Red Ensigns were used in Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald's time. The Governor General at the time of Macdonald's death, Lord Stanley, wrote to
Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn is a historic photograph taken on 27 April 1945, which was the last day of the Second World War in Finland. It depicts a Finnish Army patrol of Battle Group Loimu, Infantry Regiment 1 (), raising the Finnish flag on the three-country cairn between Norway, Sweden, and Finland to celebrate the last German troops withdrawing from Finland. The photograph was taken by the commander of Infantry Regiment 1, Colonel Väinö Oinonen (alternatively V.J. Oinonen). It became a widely circulated symbol of World War II in Finland.