02/15/2026
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The Canadian flag was first introduced on February 15th, 1965. It was a moment when our national identity could be on our own unique flag, and a signal to England that we were now had our own story separate from theirs.
In 1956 Lester B Pearson got Canada involved in United Nations Peacekeeping. After the Suez Crisis it became known that Egypt objected to Canadian peacekeepers because they still had the red ensign with the Union Jack in it, which was the United Kingdom's flag. He decided to start working on a flag change and in 1963 he became Prime Minister, and after many debates and lots of political opposition he finally got the flag changed and approved by Queen Elizabeth II.
Historically the maple leaf has been on every Canadian military uniform going back to 1890s and the Boer War. Growing up I was proud of our flag for its uniqueness and the one symbol that every Canadian can identify with.
Over the last few years our flag has taken a few hits. It became a major symbol in a national protest. It also saw some dark days when the country was talking about the history of our indigenous people and their abuse by the government that this flag symbolized.
Our flag is not the story of one person or one movement or one event. It represents a moment when Canadians wanted to have their own identity and a flag that showed the world a proud unified country.
Most of us are still proud to be Canadian and our flag still raises a certain pride. Whenever I think of the flag, I think of our military Veterans saluting it and the reasons why it is important to them. Every Canadian soldier's gravestone is marked with a Canadian maple leaf.
I think it's time that we let our flag just be our flag again and not a part of somebody else's national statement. It will be 58 years old this year the same as me. A lot of good things have happened under that flag along with the bad. Team Canada beating the Russians would not have been the same without that Maple Leaf on those jerseys. Canadian soldiers going to devastated countries to help with relief and security make a real statement with the Canadian flag on their shoulder. When the world sees that flag, they see kindness and compassion and somebody that is willing to help.
If you have a beat-up old Canadian flag, it is a good time to go and replace it. If it has become tainted to you, maybe try reading the history of the people who raised that flag in the first place.
Photo: The Maple Leaf Flag Flies for the first time at Parliament Hill, February 15, 1965.
