Happy 40th to Canadas’ Maple Leaf

40 years ago today, the first Flag sporting the Red and White bands with a simple Maple Leaf in the middle flew on a flag pole in front of the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa.

A couple months later, the flag was raised on the Peace Tower and it has been the preeminent symbol of Canada ever since.

I’ve always loved the Canadian flag because of its’ simplicity. A friend once told me that the design was chosen by the Prime Minister (Lester B. Pearson) himself because he wanted something that any child could easily draw. Even the number of “points” on the leaf was kept to a minimum to make it easier.

What better way to have children take interest in their heritage than by ensuring that they can easily reproduce their own national flag.

Thank you to Prime Minister Pearson and to the many others in early to mid-60s who took on the incredibly personal issue of Canadas symbolic identity in the world and at home.

I’m sure the flag will fly over the Peace Tower and over our Great Land for many years and centuries to come.