The Rotunda of the Manitoba Legislature is currently decorated with dozens of flags in celebration of this month being the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag. For many Canadians, including myself, the Maple Leaf flag is the only national flag we have ever known. But for others, they remember vividly the beginning of the Maple Leaf flag.
The display, which is open to the public and being exhibited until February 27th, notes that there were actually six previous variations of the Canadian flag prior to the Maple Leaf being unveiled and lifted atop Parliament Hill on February 15, 1965. It was Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson who commissioned a new flag. He was looking for a flag that was less connected to the British flag (both Manitoba and Ontario still to this day use the traditional red ensign on their provincial flags). This change, as change often does, sparked an intense public and political debate and threatened to bring down the Pearson government.
A number of proposals for a new flag were brought forward leading to the selection of the current national flag which was created by George Stanley. Some of those proposals are also on display in the Manitoba Legislature Rotunda as well. Of course today, the Canadian flag is well accepted as the symbol of our country and is one of the most recognizable flags of any country in the world. It is prominently displayed on buildings and homes across the country and whether at Olympic events or national sporting events, it has truly become the symbol of Canada.
The marking of the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag at the Manitoba Legislature is just one of a number of events planned in the lead up to Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017. Other milestones are being celebrated as we move toward this historic birthday. For example, this year also marks the bicentennial of the birth of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, and there are special events in connection with that as well.
In 2016 there will be several other milestones celebrated. Included in these will be the 175th anniversary of the birth of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was Canada’s first post Confederation French Canadian Prime Minister. 2016 will also mark the centennial of women getting the right to vote in Canada. This is notable in Manitoba because our province was one of three, together with Saskatchewan and Alberta, which first granted women the vote in 1916.
