Quote:
Originally Posted by redforever
Thx for reminding. And it is the most beautiful flag in the world. It is hard to fathom now that back when Lester Pearson and his gov't were introducing our own flag to its citizens, well, many of the citizens were outraged and wanted to keep the Union Jack!!!
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It wasn't actually the Union Jack that was Canada's flag prior to 1965, it was the Red Ensign, which incorporated the Union Jack into it (upper left corner). The exception to this was the Canadian Navy, which flew the Blue Ensign. The Red and Blue Ensigns were unique flags, flown only by Canada.
There were some valid reasons why people didn't want the new flag too, or rather, why they wanted to keep the Red Ensign. My father was one who opposed the change on the grounds that when he fought in WW II he swore allegiance to the flag (Red Ensign) and the power of that symbolism meant a lot to WW I and WW II veterans. He was loyal to the flag, and by changing the flag he felt the "flag" (read, government) was being disloyal to him and diminishing the fact he put his life on the line for his country and government, which to him was symbolized by the flag.
As I recall, the real reason for getting rid of the Red Ensign was to get rid of the Union Jack that was contained within it to appease anti-Crown sentiments in Quebec.
Personally, I don't really care, although I question why yellow wasn't somehow incorporated into the new flag. Red maple leafs are an Eastern Canadian symbol. In the West, maple leafs are yellow. It would have been nice if this had been recognized by the new flag ... maybe a yellow maple leaf and a red leaf combined in the middle of the flag or something.