Canada

The Maple Leaf

The Maple Leaf flag was adopted in 1965, and marked the first time Canada had officially adopted its own national flag. Up until then, the official flag had been the Union Jack, with the Canadian Red Ensign being informally used since the 1890's.

The Red Ensign achieved semi-official status when it was decided to use the Red Ensign whenever "it would be suitable to fly a distinctive Canadian flag." 

Then in 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson wanted to end any confusion and appointed a committee to resolve the issue. Several candidates came out, one of the earliest took the Red Ensign, and took out the Canadian shield. In its place was a gold maple leaf.

Another option that won support from the Prime Minister saw 3 red maple leaves on a white square bordered by 2 stripes of blue. This proved popular because the 2 stripes of blue alluded to Canada's motto of "Sea to sea."

The final choice took its inspiration from the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada. A central white square bordered with 2 red stripes. However, the new design replaced the colleges logo with a stylized maple leaf, taken from one of Canada's most ubiquitous images.

With some modifications, in 1965, the Canadian flag was born.