Canada

The Canadian National Flag was adopted by the Canadian Parliament on October 22, 1964 and was proclaimed into law by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (the Queen of Canada) on February 15, 1965. The Canadian Flag (colloquially known as The Maple Leaf Flag) is a red flag of the proportions two by length and one by width, containing in its centre a white square, with a single red stylized eleven-point maple leaf centred in the white square.

The colours red and white used in the Canadian flag are the same as those colours used in the Union Flag (of the UK). Red and white are the national colours of Canada since 1921 (when they were proclaimed by King George V on the recommendation of the Canadian Government). The heraldic description of the Canadian National Flag is : Gules on a Canadian pale argent a maple leaf of the first.

Philatelists will note the issue of a Canadian stamp commemorating the 30th. Anniversary of the National flag on May 1, 1995.

Sources (of this item and the following ones):
Department of the Secretary of State of Canada, The Arms, Flag and Emblems of Canada, 1984
Department of the Secretary of State for Canada, Canada: Symbols of Nationhood, 1988
Bruce Peel "Emblems of Canada: Flag" The Canadian Encyclopedia, Hurtig Publishers: Edmonton, 1988.
Peter Cawley - 25 May 1995

There are standards available from the Standards Council of Canada <http://www.scc.ca/> for making the National Flag of Canada from fabric, but I don't know of any standards for lapel pins.

CAN/CGSB-98.3-M91 National Flag of Canada (One-Event-Only Use)
CAN/CGSB-98.2-92 National Flag of Canada (Indoor Use)
CAN/CGSB-98.1-92 National Flag of Canada (Outdoor Use)

The National Flag, the provincial flags, and the territorial flags are royal symbols. Therefore, when an individual wears one of them as a badge, he or she is proclaiming his or her loyalty to the sovereign authority--the Crown--and not to government of the day, the land, the Constitution, or the people. A National Flag badge also proclaims Canadian nationality, and a provincial or territorial flag badge proclaims a close association (residency, origin, etc.) with the province or territory.

When an agent of the Crown wears such a badge, it is a symbol of that portion of the Crown's authority that has been delegated to him or her. Many countries have separate symbols for the two purposes (loyalty and authority), but in Canada they are the same. Perhaps this is comment on the spirit of democracy in Canada.
Dean Tiegs - 06 Dece,ber 1997

This comes from a daily vignette on local radio "This Day in History".

On 21 August, 1860, the Prince of Wales was visiting Canada  (i.e. Ontario and Quebec at that time, I assume) - the first real royal visit. People lined the streets of Toronto to see him - those of English origin wore a rose, the Scots wore a thistle, but what were the Canadian-born to wear? Canada's emblem had long been the beaver. 26 years earlier the Saint Jean Baptiste Society in Quebec had adopted the maple leaf as its symbol (apparently the first time the maple leaf was used as a symbol), and it was decreed that for the prince's visit the Canadians should wear a maple leaf. The idea took root.

In 1867 as Canada was becoming a country, a call was put out to write a patriotic song. Whatever song was chosen has since been lost to history, but the second place winner was Alexander Muir who wrote "The Maple Leaf for Ever", a song which became very popular, although today is downplayed a lot as it is not inclusive of the French Canadians.

In World War 1, Lester Pearson noted that almost every battalion from Canada included the maple leaf in its insignia, and vowed he would campaign to put it on the flag, and of course 50 years later as prime minister of Canada he was part of the 33-day debate that resulted in the maple leaf as the Canadian flag.

Rob Raeside - 21 August 1998

The Pearson Pennant shows three leaves on one stem.

So do the Coat-of-Arms of Ontario (also on the flag) and Quebec.
(editor's note)

Why three leaves on a single stem. While I can't claim to be a vexill-botonist, I am unaware of any maple tree that has three leaves on a single stem. Is there a hidden meaning to the three or just artistic license?
Nathan Bliss - 17 August 1998

True. This is impossible, because maple leaves always grow two by two, opposed on a branch, like this:

    |
#---|---#
    |
    |

So the arms of Canada, Quebec and Ontario are not botanically correct, so to speak. Whether this is a problem or not is debatable, because a dragon doesn't exist, so one could argue that the flag of Wales isn't zoologically correct! But of course, the three arms cited above are meant to represent a certain reality, unlike the flag of Wales, so...

> Is there a hidden meaning to the three or just artistic license?

Not officially, but we could suppose that there was a certain religious intent behind this decision.
Luc-Vartan Baronian - 17 August 1998

Since this question was asked, Canada added Nunavut as a territory, giving the country a total of 10 provinces and 3 territories.

If the ten points on