Symbols of Canada

Canada is a country with a vast array of cultural symbols. In an era where many Canadians feel overwhelmed by American cultural influences, distinct Canadian symbols are very important, and widely embraced.

Canadian Flags

Canada's "official" flag is still technically the Union Jack, which is also the flag of Great Britain. Even though Canada is an independent country, the Jack still has official status because our government still operates under the British monarchy, and the flag is a symbol of the Crown. In the old days the Union Jack was a very common symbol of Canada, but these days you'll only occasionally see it flown at certain government buildings, such as court houses or city halls. The national flag is far more common, and except in certain circumstances, takes precedence over the official one.

Canada's national flag is the Maple Leaf. It was officially adopted in 1967, following a lengthy political debate. Canada's old flag was called the Red Ensign (seen in the middle spot, above) and had been used by the British colonials for centuries. This gave the old flag a lot of history, and changing it was not a popular idea at the time. Yet then-Prime Minister Lester Pearson felt strongly that independent Canada needed an independent flag, and forced the new maple leaf design through.

The current maple leaf flag does not really have any deep meaning. Red and white are Canada's "official colors" based on a royal proclamation made back in the 20's, and the maple leaf has been a common symbol of Canada for generations. Other than that, there is no real symbolism associated with it. Some people claim the points on the leaf represent the provinces or that the bars represent the oceans, but those are just urban myths. Because of its lack of symbolism, to this day many old people still hate the Maple Leaf flag and wish we could go back to the Red Ensign. The younger generation however, eagerly embraces the current national flag and are barely aware of the old one.

The BC and Canada flag outside the Vancouver Public Library. It's hard to tell from this photo, but poles that fly the Canadian flag are always taller than ones that fly the provincial flags.

Maple Leaf flags can be seen all over Canada. All sorts of public buildings, from government offices to fast-food restaurants proudly fly the Canadian flag, and in some cases, even more than one. The Canada flag is also a widely marketed icon, and if you're a tourist its easy to buy all sorts of Maple Leaf memorabilia.

It is also extremely fashionable for young people to sew a little fabric Maple Leaf flag to their backpack. They do this so that in case they ever bring their backpack to a foreign country, the local peoples will instantly be able to recognize them as being Canadian, and thus treat them nicely. Canadians live in a perpetual state of fear that they will be mistaken for Americans, so the Canada flag is seen as an important symbol in this respect. I don't know how true this is, but in Canada it's widely believed that when Americans travel to hostile nations they too will sew a Canadian flag to their backpack in an attempt to confuse the locals into treating them with more respect.

Every Province in Canada has its own flag as well:

Left to right: Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Yukon,
Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territory, Saskatchewan

Depending on where you live, Provincial flags can be as common as the Maple Leaf. In my Province of British Columbia, for example, the BC flag can almost always be found flying alongside the national one. In Quebec the provincial flag is almost exclusively used, and they don't even fly the Maple Leaf over their parliament building.

Coat of Arms

Decorative Coats of Arms are a common sight in Canada. Every city, Province, Prime Minister, Governor General etc, has his or her own personal Coat of Arms. A Coat of Arms is an elaborate drawing that illustrates the history, motto, and symbols of a person or place. They appear on official documents, such as passports and commemorative plaques. Until 1991, Coats of Arms had to be issued by Britain, but they are now issued by the Canadian Heraldic Authority, which the Governor General is the nominal president of. Anyone can commission the Authority for their own personal Coat of Arms, but doing so will usually be accompanied by a hefty price tag. An official, government sanctioned Coat of Arms can cost upwards of several thousand dollars, so they are usually only purchased by government organizations or very wealthy pretentious people. Canada's national Coat of Arms is almost identical to Britain's Coat of Arms, except ours has a couple of Maple Leafs tacked on.

Canadian Animals

There are lots of animals associated with Canada, as anyone who has ever visited a Canadian airport gift shop can attest.

The Beaver is Canada's official national animal. This is because in the old days when Canada was owned by a large fur trading company beaver pelts were Canada's primary export to the world. Today, the beaver is widely used as the symbol of Canada. In school we are taught that beavers are hardworking, noble, and honest and that these are traits that good all Canadians should likewise posses. The beaver appears on the Canadian nickel, Canadian stamps, and lots of other official Canadian memorabilia. Editorial cartoonists like myself commonly use the beaver to personify the entire Canadian nation, much in the same way American cartoonists use "Uncle Sam".

The Moose is another popular Canadian animal. There are a lot of moose in Canada, although unlike the beaver the moose does not seem to have any great personality traits that Canadians are encouraged to emulate. Other Canadian animals of note include black bears and Canada geese. Their contemporary role consists mostly of appearing on lots of tacky Canadian souvenirs.

The red-coated "Mounties" are perhaps among the best-known Canadian clichés. Formally, they are called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and compose Canada's national police force. For day-to-day purposes, Mounties are just cops, and wear normal blue uniforms and ride around in police cars like any other cops in the world. Not all cities in Canada are protected by the RCMP. It is actually up to the city and provincial governments to decide. For example, in Vancouver we have the local Vancouver Police Force instead of the RCMP, while in Ontario they have a special Ontario Provincial Police force. These days the RCMP's jurisdiction is getting smaller and smaller, which is sort of ironic for an organization that was originally created to serve as a unifying force for law and order across the country.

The Mounties don't wear their red coats and wide-brimmed hats anymore, except on fancy formal occasions, like when the Queen comes or whatever. As far as I know the whole "mounted" aspect has been phased out as well; you never see RCMP officers on horses these days. It's just impractical.

Canada's National Anthem

As anyone who watches pro hockey will know, Canada's national anthem is a little ditty called "O Canada." The song has been around for a long time, but it only became the official anthem in 1981. Before then it was "God Save the Queen." Today GSTQ is still technically an "official" anthem of the country, but is very rarely sung.

Here are the words to "O Canada:"

O Canada! Our home and Native Land!
True, patriot* love, in all thy sons command!
With glowing hearts, we see thee rise, the true north strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
God, keep our land... Glorious and free!
O, Canada! We stand on guard... for... thee!

*note: in order to make the song's tempo work, the word "patriot" is sung as two only syllables, so it sounds like "pay-trut" as opposed to "pay-tree-ot."

The anthem is sung at school assemblies, sporting events, and other formal occasions. Which makes Canada exactly like every other country with a national anthem.