Time to give Ontario the distinctive flag it deserves
This week, Ontario’s provincial flag is turning 50 years old. Not that anybody noticed. It’s hard to look at the Ontario flag, a knock-off of the old Canadian Red Ensign, and see anything uniquely Ontarian worth making a flap about.
But that’s the point of the provincial flag. It was designed as a reactionary response to the new Canadian Maple Leaf flag that Lester Pearson’s Liberal government introduced to replace the old Red Ensign. When Ottawa brought in the new Canadian flag, with its bold colours and distinctive Maple Leaf, supporters of the old ensign turned to the provincial government to give it a renewed life. Ontario’s Conservative government led by John Robarts adopted the flag on May 21, 1965, to bring back what Ottawa had removed three months earlier: a flag with a clear British connection.
It was a “revenge flag,” according to one MPP at the time, more representative of the political differences between Ontario and the federal government than an inspired symbol of the province. Of course, given the frosty relationship between Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government and Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, the idea of a provincial “revenge flag” may seem like a fitting emblem for Ontario. But beyond this political dynamic, what does the Ontario flag really represent?
Not much, as it turns out.
50 years after the adoption of new flags for Canada and Ontario, much of the motivations behind their designs have been forgotten
The flag of Ontario never received much attention. The province’s legislative assembly spent less than a day debating the flag, a stark contrast to the protracted debate that choked the parliamentary calendar in Ottawa over the previous two years. Newspapers across the province made little stir about adopting an official provincial standard. People were tired of talking about flags and the opposition parties at Queen’s Park knew it.
Both the Liberals and New Democrats decided not to fight Robarts’ proposed flag, and they supported it, albeit “unenthusiastically.” To complicate matters further, Manitoba also adopted a modified Red Ensign for its provincial flag in the same month, leading to enduring confusion over the two nearly identical provincial flags.
According to Robarts, it made sense for a province that had a tradition of strong attachment to British crown and institutions — captured in its official motto, “loyal she began, loyal she remains” — to want to retain the old flag. To a number of government MPPs, it seemed like a suitable tribute to the province’s “Anglo-Saxon heritage.” Critics, however, suggested that the flag was a symbol of “ancestor worship” that would not hold up in the future of the province. For a province with a growing majority of people from non-British backgrounds, did it really make sense to prominently emblazon the Union Jack on Ontario’s flag? How would future generations see themselves in the flag?
Today, 50 years after the adoption of new flags for Canada and Ontario, much of the motivations behind their designs have been forgotten. Ontario’s flag was created in a moment of political retribution, meant to preserve an imperial connection that few Canadians today would place much importance in. It was created with no consultation, no committee hearings, no solicitation for designs, no public debate, and with considerable political apathy — hardly a laudable legacy for one of the most visible symbol of the province of Ontario.
The 50th anniversary of Ontario’s official flag gives pause to consider whether the hastily adopted British ensign still suits the province today. More than anything, the complacency about the flag and the largely unnoticed passing of its anniversary reflects the weakness of provincial identity and the dimness of its symbols.
Is it worth celebrating the anniversary of Ontario’s flag? Probably not, but it is certainly worth asking why not.