Flag of Ontario

 

The flag of Ontario is a defaced Red Ensign. The flag is an adaptation of the Canadian Red Ensign, which had been the de facto national flag of Canada from 1867 to 1965. The flag is a red field with the Royal Union Flag in the canton and the Ontario shield of arms in the fly. The coat of arms of Ontario had been previously granted by Royal Warrant of Queen Victoria in 1868. It features a green field with three gold maple leaves and above it, a white band with a red St. George's cross.

The specifications of the flag are 1:2. The shade of red in the flag is specified as "British Admiralty Colour Code No. T1144 for nylon worsted bunting and No. T818A for other bunting." The shield of the coat of arms is "centred in the half farthest from the staff".

 

Before 1965, the Canadian Red Ensign had served as the de facto national flag of Canada. It was flown at all military installations in Canada and overseas, embassies and consulates, outside the legislature and government buildings, at Royal Canadian Legion halls, and many private homes.

In 1964, the Canadian Parliament, after a long and acrimonious debate, adopted the Maple Leaf flag as the flag of Canada. The preceding national flag debate was very divisive and the change of flag was unpopular with many Canadians. A Gallup poll of April 1963 indicated that a majority of Canadians outside of Quebec preferred to retain either the Union Jack or the Red Ensign as the national flag.^[3] Another poll, in August 1964, indicated that less than 40% of Ontarians approved of the new flag.^[4] Many felt, however, that changing the national flag was a worthwhile concession towards bringing Quebec more closely into Confederation.^[5]

The proposal that the Red Ensign, or a variant thereof, would be an appropriate provincial flag was first made in an editorial in the Toronto Star in May 1964, 6 months prior to the adoption of the new Maple Leaf flag.^[6] The idea was supported by Leslie Frost, former premier of Ontario, and Richard Rohmer, the advisor of then-Premier John Robarts.^[7] It was originally intended to place the full Ontario Coat of Arms on the flag, but this was later reduced to only the shield.^[8]

A tireless proponent of national unity, Robarts sought to use the Red Ensign design to reconcile the majority of Ontarians who opposed the new national flag. The Ensign did not take anything from proponents of the new flag, and it gave something to those who supported the traditional flag.^[9] Robarts felt it was an important symbol that reflected Ontario's heritage and the sacrifices made under it by Canadian troops. He stated that "without conflict with the flag of Canada, there is an honored place within our provincial boundaries for a provincial flag for Ontario. Here, in our province, there is a rich heritage of tradition and historic background which we do well to recognize".^[8]

 

The adoption of the new provincial flag commanded support of the leaders of both the Ontario Liberal Party and the Ontario New Democratic Party. All MPPs except two (Elmer Sopha decried it 'a flag of revenge' against the new national flag) voted to adopt the flag on the initial reading, and it was subsequently passed by the Legislative Assembly on March 17, 1965. It went in effect on May 21, 1965.^[10] The flag of Manitoba was adopted under similar circumstances.

On May 13, 2015, the Liberal MPP from Etobicoke Centre Yvan Baker put forward the Ontario Flag Day Act, 2015. This bill, which passed the house and received royal assent on June 4 in the same year, declares May 21 every year as Ontario Flag Day.^[11]

The Toronto Daily Star supported the adoption of the flag stating "the Red Ensign was quite properly rejected as a flag for Canada because it was not an acceptable symbol of the nation as a whole. But it is much more suitable as a flag for Ontario".^[12] A 2001, a survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA) placed the Ontario provincial flag 43rd in design quality out of the 72 Canadian provincial, U.S. state, and U.S. territory flags ranked.^[13] The design of any flag, however, is entirely subjective and not easily compared according to some scholars such as Graham Bartram, chief vexillologist at the Flag Institute, who noted "There's often a fundamental misunderstanding of flags by politicians. Saying you like a flag because of its design is like saying you like your family because they are all handsome or beautiful. You love them because of who they are, unconditionally. Flags are a bit like that." This remark was made after a 2016 New Zealand flag referendum, in which New Zealanders voted to retain their existing flag, inclusive of the Union Jack.^[14]

The incorporation of traditional or historical symbols is often an important element in flag design. Bruce Patterson notes the continued significance of the Red Ensign within the context of Canadian flag design, "while not disparaging the current National Flag...the Red Ensign is worth considering as a part of our history, and after fifty years an acknowledgement of this is certainly not a threat to the position of the National Flag."^[15]

Some Commonwealth countries with the Union Jack in the canton have debated redesigning their national flags, such as in the case of the 2015–2016 New Zealand flag referendums.^[16] There has been comparatively less debate around re-designing the Ontario flag, although some commentators have made calls to change the flag.^[17] The justification is mainly around perceptions that the current flag centres colonialism and Old Stock Canadians.^[18] Most recently, in July 2021, University of Western Ontario Professor Mano Majumdar launched a petition to redesign the flag, stating that "the best flags are distinct and inclusive. Ontario's is neither" and calling for "the Ontario legislature to replace the provincial flag with a more distinct and inclusive flag, chosen by democratic means."^[19]

The petition also spurred support for the flag with one editorial encouraging pride in the flag as it was "a symbol of success."^[20] It was emblematic of the origin of Ontario's most successful institutions of British inheritance: parliamentary democracy, law and freedom. The editorial argued, using the flags of Fiji or Tuvalu as an example, that the Union Jack is not exclusive to any ethnic group and represents Ontarians of all backgrounds. It further suggested that the Union Jack could also symbolise the attaining of freedom for an estimated 30-40,000 escaped slaves reaching British North America on the Underground Railroad.^[21]

• List of Canadian flags

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flag of Ontario.

• Ontario Flag Act
• Government of Ontario, About Ontario: Emblems and Symbols
• Flags of Canada - Ontario book chapter by Alistair B. Fraser
• Rebellion of 1837–1839 in Upper Canada flags of Upper Canada from Flags of the World
• Flag of Ontario in the online Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges