The national flag of Canada is a red and white flag with a single red, eleven-point maple leaf on a white square. It was first raised on Parliament Hill in Ottawa at noon on February 15, 1965, after Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed it on January 28, 1965 and Parliament approved the design in December 1964. Before that date Canada flew the Royal Union Flag as its national flag and the Canadian Red Ensign on federal buildings.
The flag is sometimes called the Maple Leaf flag. This page sets out the dates, the people involved, the flags that came earlier, what the design consists of, and the official rules for flying it, using pages of the Government of Canada and the Canadian Encyclopedia.
Timeline of the Canadian flag
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1870s | The Canadian Red Ensign is used unofficially on land and sea. |
| 1890s | The Red Ensign becomes an official naval flag. |
| 1921 | King George V grants Royal Arms to Canada, and the new shield is placed on the Red Ensign. |
| 1925 and 1946 | Attempts to create a new flag are shelved by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. |
| 1956 | Canadian peacekeepers in Egypt fly the Red Ensign, and Egyptian observers mistake it for the flag of an invading nation. |
| 1957 | A revised artistic version of the coat of arms changes the maple leaves on the shield from green to red. |
| 1963 | Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson promises a new flag in time for the 1967 centennial. |
| October 22, 1964 | A parliamentary committee votes for George Stanley’s single-leaf concept. |
| December 15, 1964 | The House of Commons approves the flag, 163 to 78. The Senate follows shortly after. |
| January 28, 1965 | Queen Elizabeth II proclaims the flag. |
| February 15, 1965 | The Red Ensign is lowered and the new flag raised on Parliament Hill at noon. |
| February 15, 1996 | The day is officially proclaimed National Flag of Canada Day. |
What was the Canadian flag before 1965?
For the first century after Confederation in 1867 there was no flag created by Parliament for Canada alone. The Royal Union Flag, known as the Union Jack, was used across British North America and in Canada until 1965. Alongside it, the Canadian Red Ensign carried the Union Jack in one corner and the shield of Canada on a red field. According to Canadian Heritage, it was used informally from the 1870s, became an official naval flag in the 1890s, and grew into a popular patriotic emblem during the First World War.
The shield on the ensign changed over time. After the Royal Arms of Canada were granted in 1921, the new shield replaced the older one, and that version represented Canada in the Second World War. In 1957 the approved artistic interpretation of the arms turned the maple leaves from green to red, and this last Red Ensign remained in use until 1965. Provincial arms had been added to the ensign’s shield as provinces joined Confederation, which is why earlier versions look different from the later ones.
Searches for the “old Canadian flag” or the “original Canadian flag” usually mean one of these ensigns. The Government of Canada does not name a single “original” flag, because the Union Flag and the Red Ensign were both in use, the first as the national flag and the second on government buildings.
Early attempts at a Canadian flag
The question of a distinct flag came up well before the 1960s. Canadian Heritage records attempts in 1925 and 1946, both shelved by Prime Minister Mackenzie King, mainly out of concern about political instability. The government kept the Union Jack as the national flag and flew the Red Ensign on government buildings.
The Suez Crisis of 1956 gave the debate a practical example. Canadian peacekeepers sent to Egypt flew the Red Ensign, and Egyptian observers took it for the flag of one of the invading powers. In 1960 Lester B. Pearson, then Leader of the Opposition, promised to settle what he called the flag problem. After he became Prime Minister in 1963 he promised a new flag for Canada’s centennial in 1967.
The Great Flag Debate of 1964
Pearson’s own preference was a design of three red maple leaves on white with a blue stripe at each side, which the artist Alan Beddoe developed into what became known as the Pearson Pennant. Pearson recommended it to members of Parliament in 1964, and it met strong opposition. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes the debate in the House of Commons running from June to December 1964, with the Leader of the Opposition, John Diefenbaker, demanding that the flag honor Canada’s “founding races” and include the Union Jack.
To break the deadlock, Parliament created a committee of 15 members with a six-week deadline. According to Parks Canada it reviewed nearly 2,000 designs over six weeks and narrowed them to three, and Parliament debated the choice for 33 days. The committee voted on October 22, 1964 for the concept put forward by George Stanley. Canadian Heritage credits the member of Parliament John Matheson with building consensus in the committee and helping to end the debate. On December 15, 1964 the House of Commons approved the flag. The vote count of 163 to 78 comes from the Canadian Encyclopedia, and Canadian Heritage cites a note from Matheson to Stanley for the same figure.
Who designed the flag?
No single person drew the flag from nothing, and the sources assign different parts to different people. George Stanley, Dean of Arts at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, wrote to Matheson on March 23, 1964 (the Canadian Encyclopedia gives the date) and proposed a single stylized red maple leaf on a white field between two red borders. He took the idea from the college flag, which in turn drew on the red and white stripes of the Canada General Service Medal (1866 to 1870).
Beddoe’s drawing of Stanley’s concept gave the leaf 13 points. Graphic artist Jacques St-Cyr (written Saint-Cyr in the Canadian Encyclopedia) redesigned it with 11 points, and that version is the one on the flag today. The Canadian Encyclopedia adds that Matheson asked for the white center to be a square flanked by two red bars, a change it says was inspired by a design from George Bist. Canadian Heritage confirms that St-Cyr’s 11-point leaf is the one on the flag today. Stanley is usually named as the designer, Matheson as the member of Parliament who brought the design through, and St-Cyr as the artist who finished the leaf.
Design and meaning of the Canadian flag
Canadian Heritage gives the following description. The flag is twice as long as it is wide. The official description gives the size as 64 units by 32 units. The white square at the center is as wide as the flag is tall, which leaves a red bar on each side of it. A single stylized red maple leaf with 11 points sits in the middle of the square. The official blazon, the heraldic wording, is “Gules on a Canadian pale Argent a maple leaf Gules,” which means a red leaf on a white central band between red fields. Red and white are named as Canada’s national colors.
The government’s pages say that the maple leaf had long been used in Canadian art, on medals and badges, and in the coat of arms, and that it often helped identify Canadians abroad. They also state that Canada is the only country with a maple leaf on its flag. The pages do not assign a fixed meaning to each colour or to the number of points, so explanations that tie each element to a particular value are popular interpretations and not part of the official description.
The flag has since gone far from Ottawa. Canadian Heritage lists its arrival at the summit of Mount Everest with mountaineer Laurie Skreslet in 1982 and its flight into space on the space shuttle Challenger in 1984 with the first Canadian astronaut.
Flag Day and how the flag is flown
February 15 is National Flag of Canada Day. Canadian Heritage and Parks Canada both date its proclamation to 1996, and it is a day of official recognition. It marks the anniversary of the first raising of the flag on Parliament Hill in 1965.
Canadian Heritage publishes the rules for half-masting the flag. They govern federal buildings and establishments in Canada and abroad. A province or territory can start half-masting for its own flag, and the national flag then follows within that province or territory with some exceptions. The rules do not mention private citizens, so they do not tell individuals or businesses how to fly the flag. A flag lowered to half-mast should first be raised to the masthead and then lowered so that its center sits halfway down the mast. Typical occasions include the death of the Sovereign, the Governor General, or the Prime Minister, and set days such as Remembrance Day on November 11 and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30. Vimy Ridge Day on April 9 is treated differently: the flag is lowered on the Peace Tower only. Victoria Day and Canada Day are flown at full mast even when the flag is otherwise lowered, with two exceptions for the proclamation of a new monarch and the death of the Governor General or Prime Minister.
When the national flag flies with provincial and territorial flags, Canadian Heritage says they follow the order in which they joined Confederation. The pages read for this article do not set out the full sequence, so check the department’s protocol guidance for it. The longest half-masting in Canadian history lasted 162 days, from May 30 to November 7, 2021, after unmarked graves were identified at the former Kamloops residential school in British Columbia.
Frequently asked questions
When did Canada get its current flag?
Parliament approved the design on December 15, 1964. Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed it on January 28, 1965, and it was first raised on Parliament Hill on February 15, 1965.
What was the Canadian flag before the maple leaf?
The Royal Union Flag was the national flag until 1965, and the Canadian Red Ensign flew on government buildings. Both are described above.
Why are flags at half-mast today?
The reason varies. Federal rules call for half-masting after the death of certain officeholders and on set days such as November 11. Current notices are issued by the Government of Canada and by provincial protocol offices, so the Canadian Heritage page on half-masting is the place to confirm why a flag is lowered on a given day.
What do the colors and the leaf of the Canadian flag mean?
Canadian Heritage names red and white as the national colors and notes the long use of the maple leaf as a Canadian emblem. It does not state a separate meaning for each color or point.
Related reading
- An overview of Toronto’s history
- Fort York and the Battle of York
- Queen’s Park and the Ontario Legislative Building
- Toronto’s museums and their collections
- The history of Toronto from its Indigenous roots
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada, “History of the National Flag of Canada”: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/flag-canada-history.html
- Canadian Heritage, “Rules for half-masting the National Flag of Canada”: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/flag-canada-masting-rules.html
- Canadian Heritage, “Description of the National Flag of Canada”: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/flag-canada-description.html
- Canadian Heritage, “1963-1965: The birth of Canada’s National Flag: Who’s who”: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/flag-canada-history/whos-who.html
- Parks Canada, “The Creation of the National Flag” (2017): https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2017/04/the_creation_of_thenationalflag.html
- Canadian Heritage, National Flag of Canada Day, “Did you know”: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-flag-canada-day/about/did-you-know.html
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “The Stanley Flag”: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-stanley-flag
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Flag Debate” (article body did not load in full; only its summary was read): https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/flag-debate
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