What could have been? Alternate flags of Canada

[pianoknight]

Great article on the National Flag of Canada. As an American, I didn't realize the Maple Leaf was so relatively young (as far as flags go) and this article brought out a lot of interesting submissions when Canada formally tried to adopt a national flag in the 1960s.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/13/the-flags-we-could-have-had-a-look-at-the-forgotten-runners-up-to-canadas-beloved-maple-leaf/

Here's a teaser:

[IceCap]

I'm rather partial to the Pearson Pennant.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Canada_Pearson_Pennant_1964.svg/1200px-Canada_Pearson_Pennant_1964.svg.png

[pianoknight]

The Pearson flag was a solid choice. And I found it interesting how many designs focused on appeasing both Anglophones and Francophones with the Union Jack and Fleur-de-Lis symbology incorporated.

[dgthree]

The first flag in the article isn't horrible, but it does lean a lot on its historical connections.

My two favorite--and arguably better designs--are:

[Magnus]

In the end, simplicity and distinctiveness won the day. Canada's national flag has a unique emblem, unlike a great number of countries which use five-point stars and red, white and blue. It is also simple enough that a child can draw it, unlike some of the more detailed flags of the world.

[illwauk]

Lots of interesting possibilities for sure, but I think in the end, Canada chose the right flag.

[IceCap]

The Pearson flag was a solid choice. And I found it interesting how many designs focused on appeasing both Anglophones and Francophones with the Union Jack and Fleur-de-Lis symbology incorporated.

Lots of interesting possibilities for sure, but I think in the end, Canada chose the right flag.

It's interesting, actually. The design that would become the current flag (here it is in prototype form) was a late entry. The Pearson Pennant (from my first post in the thread) was the front-runner for most of the flag debate, and never really stood a chance because PM Pearson favoured it. It was seen as too political. As such there was a point where a new flag almost didn't happen. The Pearson Pennant wasn't going to gain the Tory support it needed and no other design was really gaining traction. It got to the point where a compromise was going to be seriously considered that was pretty much a white flag with three red maple leaves, with a small Union Jack in one corner and a small fleur-de-lis in the other. It wasn't until George Stanley proposed the design that would be adopted relatively late in the process that a simple, bold design without political baggage emerged.

For those interested the flag was actually based off of the flag of the Royal Canadian Military Institute.

[C-Squared]

Rule #1 of design: less is more. Most of the losing designs were far too detailed and cluttered.

[Morgan33]

I'm just thankful the union jack is nowhere near our current flag. The powder blue one is sharp, but still a lateral move.

[BigBubba]

I'm just thankful the union jack is nowhere near our current flag. The powder blue one is sharp, but still a lateral move.

I'm partial to the Red Ensign, but even as far as simplistic, maple-leaf themed flags go, I think they made the wrong choice.

The Pearson Pennant was a far superior option to the one they eventually went with. Don't get me wrong, the current flag is beautifully designed, but what does it stand for? You have red and white (our national colours) and a maple leaf (our de facto national symbol). Okay, cool. That's all? We're not talking about a Team Canada logo here, we're talking about a flag. A flag is supposed to do a little more than just look nice - it should pay tribute to a country's heritage and represent its values (it's "essence", if you will). Pearson's design does that quite well. The blue bands on either side represent the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, tying in with our national motto ("From sea to sea") and the idea of a strong, united dominion spreading across the continent. The maple leaves are arranged in their traditional style, featuring three leaves united from a single stem. This is meant to symbolize national unity - whether English/French/Indian, Past/Present/Future, Atlantic/Arctic/Pacific, etc. Again, I don't hate our current flag, but it strikes me as incredibly soulless, especially compared to the other options that were on the table.

[Diamond Dweller]

Less is more, a simple identifiable symbol is all a flag needs. The more you clutter it, the less distinctive and recognizable it becomes.

For as much as a tire of seemingly every Canadian company randomly placing the leaf somewhere, I still think the Canadian flag is about as good as it gets for a national flag.

[greyraven8]

Here's a site that sells Canadian flag patches - National, provincial, city.

Four of the patches included are of previouslyl proposed flags for Canada (click on the 1st four in the second row of symbols).

http://canadia.ca/patches/

[TorinK92]

That's so 60's

[Jer15]

I am a big fan of the Pearson Pennant as well (I think that's come up before in flag discussions that myself and Icecap have both been in? either way no surprise that I say that) but when I look at George Stanley's proposal I always think "That should have been it".

I don't recall ever seeing this one before:

But I really like it.

[greyraven8]

From 1960 Nipigon, ON newspaper.

Flag is red on top left, white on bottom right, and with a green leaf in the middle.

[2001mark]

It still looks ahead of its time.

[Htown1141]

nice flag. but I go with the beaver and the maple leaves surrounding it. THAT, THAT is sooooooo beautiful (sarcastic voice is sarcastic)

[1insaneguy]

I'm going to guess if this had been adopted as the flag it wouldn't have lasted very long:

[2001mark]

I'm going to guess if this had been adopted as the flag it wouldn't have lasted very long:

The Los Angeles Clippers of Canada?

[greyraven8]

poster of some of the proposed flags