Today is National Flag of Canada Day, not a holiday, not really celebrated and I probably would have forgotten since it’s not in my calendar. Upon launching my browser, defaulted to Google, I saw that the Google letters were all red with a Canadian flag, blowing in the breeze, superimposed over top. Hovering over the logo I discovered today was our Flag Day.
Nice… thanks Google!
So now that I’ve been reminded, I figured a little research was in order. I’ve always liked our flag. It’s simple, looks good on a pole and is easily recognizable. Some interesting facts found on this site, reveal the following:
Dr. George Stanley, a professor at Royal Military College in Kingston in 1964, suggested a red and white single maple leaf design for the flag because it could be seen clearly from a distance.
Vexillologists (flag experts) often cite the National Flag of Canada as one of the world’s most beautiful based on its simple design and limited number of colours.
And from one of the Government of Canada’s numerous web sites I found this:
Our red and white maple leaf flag was first raised over Parliament Hill 50 years ago on February 15, 1965. This is a significant and special milestone as Canadians prepare for the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.
It was only a few months later that I was born but that was largely forgotten, at the time, with all the hype about our new flag.
To all my family, friends, acquaintances and everyone else; Happy Flag Day!
I really need to spend a little time on the ‘flag expert’ thing. Why a Vexillologists? Is someone who studies witch’s curses a Flagologists? I just don’t understand these things so it’s off to Wikipedia for the answer. I found a few interesting facts from this Wiki page:
Vexillology is the “scientific study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general”.
The word is a synthesis of the Latin word vexillum (“flag”) and the Greek suffix -logia (“study”).
There is the International Federation of Vexillological Associations, who, you guessed, have their own flag. Check it out here.
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