When the maple leaf made some see red
Outrage, patriotism, debate: Flag has inspired strong feelings since its formal adoption in 1960s
“Y’all want a side order of shredded flag with that chicken, honey?”
Kentucky Fried Chicken found itself the object of lighthearted mockery when it ran afoul of public sentiment for flying tattered maple leaf flags from a Scarborough location nine years ago.
Toronto Star reporter Jack Lakey’s quip delivered a clear message to the fast-food outlet: Don’t mess with our national symbol.
“Many people are outraged when they see a ripped, torn Canadian flag atop a pole or building,” Lakey wrote in his popular column The Fixer, which tackles broken things in Toronto neighbourhoods. Such indignities, while not illegal, are a common complaint, he noted.
A few months later, he addressed a “double dose of disrespect” when a west-end school was accused of flying not just a ratty Canadian flag but a worn-out banner of Elmer the Safety Elephant. The offence was compounded by a violation of Heritage Canada etiquette stating that the national symbol should fly solo from its own pole.
“This is pure disrespect and sloppiness and would never happen in America,” groused Star reader Stanley Kedzierski.
Even before its birth 52 years ago, Canada’s red, white and red pennant was wrapped in what the Star called “one of the bitterest controversies this country has ever seen.”
Canadians had been calling for a distinct flag of their own to replace the Red Ensign and the British Union Jack, which had been fluttering from the nation’s poles since 1911.
Thousands of new designs were debated and rejected by special committees over the decades until finally, a creation by historian and educator George Stanley featuring a single maple leaf framed by two red borders was selected in 1964.
Politics and patriotism polarized opinions across the country with Quebec saying “oui!” while other sectors with a strong attachment to the Union Jack reacted like bulls to a red flag.
According to reports, a fist fight even broke out in the House of Commons before the fledgling won acceptance and took flight on Parliament Hill for the first time on Feb. 15, 1965. At precisely 12 p.m. that day — 98 years after the founding of Canada — the redflanked maple leaf became our official symbol, following a campaign promise of Liberal leader Lester Pearson, who was elected prime minister in 1963.
Torontonian R. Hockling was quick with congratulations in a letter to the editor.
“As a Canadian, I can dearly love this flag,” he wrote. “As a war veteran I can proudly salute it. As an elder citizen, I can sincerely say ‘I am glad to have lived to see this day.’ ”
But even as Ottawa trumpets blared in celebration, Hogtown’s citizenry was seeing red (and white) over a local flag flap. Conn Smythe, diehard imperialist and owner of Maple Leaf Gardens, didn’t want the new banner hanging over his ice. Neither did Toronto Maple Leafs’ wary coach Punch Imlach, who wasn’t taking any chances with his team’s fortunes.
The ensign would continue to be flown “for superstitious reasons” until the Leafs won the Stanley Cup, management announced. But “zillions of phone calls” from irate fans changed their minds, vicepresident Harold Ballard told reporters.
On Feb. 20, the five-day-old maple leaf flag took its rightful place in the arena for ahockey match against the Chicago Black Hawks.
Score one for sovereignty, the Star crowed in an editorial: “The Maple Leaf has triumphed simultaneously over Toronto’s biggest building, Conn Smythe’s stubbornness and Punch Imlach’s superstitions.” (The Leafs didn’t win the Stanley Cup that year.)
Two years later in 1967, the country’s centennial meant big business for the new flag as multiple Dominion Day parades marched throughout Metro Toronto.
Sales soared in department and dime stores on the “flag-wavingest July 1,” the newspaper said, with Simpson’s report- ing that three-foot rod flags for $8.98 and 59-cent hand-wavers were flying off the shelves. Eaton’s downtown store noted similar enthusiasm among customers clamouring to display their patriotism.
The banner year for flag-makers, however, wasn’t repeated in 1968, much to their disappointment.
“What with Centennial flags, Expo flags, national flags, provincial flags and private and family banners of all kinds, they never had it so good as they did last year,” Star staff writer Glen Allen observed the following June.
But one company spokesperson told him the country’s 100th birthday in 1967 had prompted people to put up flagpoles, resulting in more sales than ever of the white and red.
Contrast that with another manufacturer who was surprised at the ongoing demand for Red Ensigns. “There must still be a lot of people out there who still don’t like Pearson’s pennant,” he mused.
The ability of flags to stir the public’s emotions was never as apparent as in 1992 when the unthinkable happened and the red leaf was paraded upside down before Game 2 of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves.
While unintentional and away from home turf, the faux pas by a U.S. marine colour guard caused Canadians to “go nuts” when television replayed the slight, according to sports columnist Dave Perkins.
In those days, people with something to complain about called newspapers, he recalled in his 2016 book, Fun and Games: My 40 Years Writing Sports.
“The Star switchboard was stuffed with outraged callers . . . the phones were ringing non-stop with angry complaints, with no let-up in sight.”
Despite apologies from the baseball commissioner’s office, the flap “bloomed into an international incident, one that ended up with the White House issuing regrets,” Perkins said.
And one for the annals of vexillology.
“The Maple Leaf has triumphed simultaneously over Toronto’s biggest building, Conn Smythe’s stubbornness and Punch Imlach’s superstitions.” 1965 TORONTO STAR EDITORIAL