UK Flag Institute Spring Meeting 2010: Part XII

Canadian Flag before 1965

I was privileged to give the last presentation at the 2010, UK Flag Institute Spring meeting. It was entitled 'Flag Symmetry' with a sharp focus on the flags connected to the UK.
The first part of the discussion focused on the flags of Canada. Although Canada is a mosaic of humanity, multi-cultural and multi-lingual nation nearly all the provincial flags exhibit a strong connectivity to the United Kingdom. England's flag, that of St. George is explicitly repeated three times on three provinces and one territory.

Canadian States with St. George's Cross

CLICK PICTURE FOR CLEARER IMAGE
(note that Yukon has a blue-white heraldic squirrel disc on top)

The UK flag makes three appearances on three provincial flags. Additionally the flag of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland & Labrador have flags based on the flag of Scotland. Finally, two flags have the heraldic lion of English Royalty.

A long standing issue within Canada has been to find a balance in between their British Heritage and Canadian Identity that is also distinct from south of border. Since the flag change in 1965, Canadian culture has made leaps and bounds. However the provincial flags of Canada are iconic testaments that echo one of the fundamental core cultural identities of Canada, the UK.

You can see a video I made about Canadian flag symmetry on youtube. It's a music video set to RUSH live playing the Spirit of Radio, Here!