Blunders that raise a red flag
The etiquette of our national emblem
The flag of Canada should be treated with respect, obviously.
There’s official etiquette for displaying the flag, too.
Considered a set of rules for the federal government and its many branches, it’s not mandatory for individuals or organizations outside government, but the Department of Canadian Heritage says it should be regarded as a list of “guidelines for all persons who wish to display the Canadian flag and other flags in Canada.”
Some seem more obvious than others, such as not permitting the flag to touch the ground. But the guidelines also cover an array of situations ranging from how the flag should be flown on ships and boats to how it should be handled when used to cover a casket at a funeral to a flag’s eventual disposal.
For example, when a Canadian flag is suspended vertically over the middle of an east-west street, the tops of the leaf should point north; when the roadway is north-south, the leaf tops should point east.
“You know what? You’re the first person that has ever mentioned that to me. This kind of stuff, that has never come up in the history, in the 45 years I’ve been here. Nobody has ever asked that,” says Susan Braverman, Vancouver-based president of The Flag Shop chain. “That one’s pretty interesting. I have no idea. I can’t comment on it. It has never come up. It has never, ever, ever come up.”
One question that has come up frequently, according to Braverman, is where the Canadian flag should stand when it’s simultaneously displayed with other flags. The short answer is that the maple leaf should be in the middle in an array of three flags, but on the left side facing spectators when there are two flags or more than three.
Here are a few other points from Canadian Heritage’s nine-point document on flag etiquette as we mark Flag Day 2020 today:
■ Canada’s flag should never be used as: a tablecloth or seat cover; masking for boxes; a barrier on a stage or platform; a cover for a statue, monument or plaque at an unveiling ceremony; wearing apparel.
■ It should not be flown in a discoloured or tattered condition, burned in effigy, touch the ground, be stepped on or be dipped or lowered to the ground as a means of paying salute or compliment to any person or thing. It should also not be flown upside down except as a signal of distress in “instances of extreme danger to life.”
■ When a flag becomes tattered and is no longer suitable for use, it should be “destroyed in a dignified way,” possibly by returning it to a participating store for disposal.