The Story of Canada's Flag
When, in 1763, France ceded Canada to Great Britain, the official British flags were the Union Flag (or two-crossed jack) and the red ensign of the merchant marine. Between 1763 and the outbreak of the American Revolution, the crossed jack flew over all the military establishments of North America from Newfoundland to the mouth of the Mississippi.
It was not, however, the only Flag in use in North America. There were also a number of colonial flags, including among others, the flags of Massachusetts with its tree, New York with its black beaver, and South Carolina with its crescent.
In 1775, with the outbreak of the American rebellion and the formation of the Continental Army, George Washington suggested the adoption of a special flag to identify the forces of the united colonies to differentiate them from those of the individual states. The design finally selected comprised thirteen stripes of alternate red and white -one for each colony-with the British Union Flag of 1707 in the canton. This flag bore a strong resemblance to the flag of the East India Company, with its thirteen alternate red and white stripes
and the cross of St. George on the staff. The East India Company flag may have been seen occasionally on vessels trading with the Americans, and have suggested the design of the American flag of 1775. This flag, known as the "Grand Union" or Cambridge flag, was hoisted over Washington's camp at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 2, 1776. The object of retaining the British flag in the canton was to indicate that, at this date, the Americans were seeking redress of grievances rather than independence.
As the fighting continued between the British and the Americans, the rebel attitude underwent a change. In July, 1776, Congress proclaimed the independence of the thirteen colonies. Another flag was required. But almost a year elapsed before a new design, prepared by a committee of three, was adopted by Congress. This design simply substituted thirteen white stars in a circle on a blue field for the British Jack. The thirteen alternate red and white stripes of the Grand Union flag were retained. The new flag was officially proclaimed on September 3, 1777. It was called the "Union Ensign of the United States of America."
Those Americans, who, for various reasons, refused to join the ranks of the rebels and took their stand in support of the British crown did their fighting under British Union Flag of 1707. This flag
had been flying in Canada since 1763. Thus, when the war ended and Great Britain formally recognized the independence of her former American colonies while retaining possession of Newfoundland, Canada and Nova Scotia, the American Loyalists settled in the remaining British colonies under the flag for which they had fought. The flag of Canada's United Empire Loyalists is thus the British Union Flag of 1707, combining the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew on a blue field.
In 1800 this flag underwent a change. By the parliamentary Act which united Great Britain and Ireland on January 1, 1801, provision was made for the alteration of the "Ensigns Armorial, Flags and Banners" to take cognizance of the new territory added to the United Kingdom. After consulting the Heralds, the Privy Council decided that a new flag should be designed which would join the red cross of St. Patrick with the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew. A proclamation, issued on the day the union was formally put into effect read, in part, as follows:
the Union Flag shall be azure, the Crosses Saltires of St. Andrew and St. Patrick Quarterly per Saltire, counter-charged Argent and Gules; the latter fimbriated of the Second surmounted by the Cross of St. George of the Third fimbriated as the Saltire.
The proclamation also stated that the new Union Flag should be displayed on all His Majesty's forts and castles, and worn by all His Majesty's ships. But it was not to be used indiscriminately by all the king's subjects. This was an effort to go back to the old practice of restricting the use of the Union Flag to the king's soldiers and sailors. But this time the regulation was not really enforced, and the Union Flag was gradually adopted as the flag of the British people as well as the flag of the monarch's servicemen. As such it was the official flag of the several British North American colonies, including Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, the two Canadas and British Columbia, in the period prior to Confederation. The flag that flew over the remaining territories of British America was the house flag of the Hudson's Bay Company, a red ensign bearing the letters H.B.C. on the fly.
Meanwhile French Canadians sought to find some device by which they might continue to identify themselves as a distinct ethnic group. They did not challenge the use of the Union Flag as the flag of the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada, and later of the United Provinces of Canada. What they wanted was something which would be theirs alone. In 1834 the St. jean Baptiste Society of Montreal adopted a flag of three horizontal bands of green, white and red. This flag was carried by
the revolutionary "sons of liberty" in 1837, with the words "Avant! Association des Fils de la LibertV. The St. jean Baptiste Society of Quebec adopted a similar flag in 1842. It continued in use until 1888, when it was replaced by the blue, white and red of the tricolour of France.
During the mid-nineteenth century the tricolour acquired considerable popularity in Lower Canada. This popularity sprang, in part, from the AngloFrench alliance against the Russians in Crimea. Partly it was the outward manifestation of the emotional nostalgia in French Canada that arose from the visit of the French frigate Capricieuse to Quebec in 1855.
The French tricolour did not, however, evoke lasting feelings of pride in French Canada. Its very revolutionary origin prevented it from appealing to the Canadian tradition. Accordingly it was dropped by the St. jean Baptiste Society, whose members became much more interested in the Drapeau du Sacr6-Coeur, a blue flag bearing a white cross and white fleurs-de-lis, with the Sacred Heart at the centre of the cross. This was the flag that, minus the religious symbol, was subsequently adopted as the provincial flag of Quebec. In the maritime provinces, however, the Acadians clung to the tricolour, adding a golden star in the blue band (next to the staff) as the distinctive symbol.
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