The flag of Canada
The leaf has eleven points and they mean nothing. Earlier proposals used a thirteen-point leaf, which blurred into a red smear in wind-tunnel tests, so the design was simplified until it stayed legible — the count is an artefact of that process, not a tally of provinces, of which there were ten in 1965 anyway. The unusual proportions are a "Canadian pale": the centre square is exactly half the flag's length, so the leaf sits in a square rather than a rectangle. The 1964 parliamentary debate over adopting it ran for six months and 308 speeches and is still called the Great Flag Debate.
What the colours mean
- Red
#D80621From the cross of St George; one of Canada's two official colours since 1921 - White
#FFFFFFFrom the French royal emblem; the second official colour
Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.
The symbols on it
| What | What it stands for |
|---|---|
| Maple leaf | A Canadian emblem in use since the 1830s, predating the country |
- Ratio
- 1:2
- Current design adopted
- 1965
- Colours
- red, white
The specification names the colour "red" and a Pantone chip rather than a hex value. #D80621 is the Federal Identity Program conversion; plain #FF0000 is what most reproductions use.
Common questions
- What does the flag of Canada look like?
- A white square in the centre bearing a red eleven-pointed maple leaf, flanked by two red vertical bands each half the width of the square.
- What do the colours of the Canada flag mean?
- Red: from the cross of St George; one of Canada's two official colours since 1921. White: from the French royal emblem; the second official colour.
- When was the Canada flag adopted?
- The current design dates from 1965, and its official ratio is 1:2.
Related pages
- Canada Capital, area, population and currency
- Every flag with red in it
- The flag of United States Ratio 10:19
- The flag of United Kingdom Ratio 1:2
- The flag of France Ratio 2:3
- The flag of China Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Germany Ratio 3:5
- The flag of Russia Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Italy Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Mexico Ratio 4:7
Sources
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place