OUR BADGE OF HONOUR
Flag sales surge as the Maple Leaf hits the half-century mark
The internationally respected Canadian flag turns 50 this year, so wave one proudly this Canada Day
It sounds a little like what might be an urban myth — that American travellers would sew Canadian flags onto their backpacks to appear to come from a more, say, neutral country.
But it’s no myth, Susan Braverman says.
“I’ve seen it happen here,” says the owner of The Flag Shop on Powell Street in Vancouver.
“Not so much in the last few years, because a lot of places in Southeast Asia want to see your passport. But I remember seven or eight years ago, we saw a huge spike of people coming in from the U.S. and buying Canadian products. But Canadians do it too. They want to make sure they look Canadian.”
The Canadian flag — that symbol of neutrality, politeness, and affability — turns 50 this year. And Braverman is seeing not just a spike in sales but a sense of renewed pride.
“There are people who know explicitly and those who know implicitly,” she said. “It may not be that everyone knows, ‘ Oh it’s the Canadian flag’s 50th birthday.’ But the talk started in February. It goes in peoples’ subconscious. It makes them start thinking.”
Designed by George Stanley, the design we know and love today made its first appearance on February 15, 1965, replacing the Union Jack. The debate over a new flag came under the watch of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, and lasted six months in the House of Commons.
A committee shortlisted three designs — three red maple leaves between two blue borders, a red ensign with the fleur-de-lis and the Union Jack, and a single red maple leaf on a white square on a red flag. The latter was a unanimous choice.
According to the Canadian government, the maple leaf has been used as a Canadian symbol since around 1700 and red and white were approved as Canada’s official colours in the proclamation of the royal arms of Canada in 1921 by King George V.
Since Braverman’s mother opened the store in 1975, the Canadian flag has consistently been a top seller. June gets especially crazy, she says, with orders coming in from all over the country.
Back in the pre-Internet days, the time leading up to the holiday meant more activity in the store itself.
“You felt it,” Braverman said. “Nowadays, you could come in and there might just be one customer, while 30 web orders have come in.”
Buying a flag might sound simple, but Braverman and her staff want to make sure people get the right flag for their purposes.
“You can go into Canadian Tire and buy what they have and walk out, and that’s how Canadian Tire works,” Braverman said.
“They may be made in Canada, they may be made overseas. We could have up to four or five or six different fabrics for each different size, so we’re going to want to find out how you’re using it to choose the best one. We have the strongest material, the most wind-resistant if you’re flying it on a boat. If you’re putting it up in your home you might want a hand-sewn flag versus a screen-printed flag.”
Canadian flag temporary tattoos are popular this year, she says, along with paper flags.
The store, which has been in the news for its decision to stop selling Confederate flags, has 13 outlets across the country. Besides outdoor and indoor flags, they sell street banners, custom banners, feather flags, windsocks, and hand-held stick flags, along with car flags, lapel pins, decals, toothpicks, and parade regalia.
In fact, it was parade regalia that got The Flag Shop flying when, 40 years ago, Doreen Braverman bought a company called Vancouver Regalia.
“It sold regalia, things for parades,” Susan Braverman recalls.
“Which isn’t as big now as it was back then. But there was a box of flags in the store. And so she put the flags out, and people started buying them. She realized there were no flag stores in Canada and she changed the name to The Flag Shop.”
Growing up, Braverman wasn’t surrounded by flags, at least not at home.
“There was no need to bring them home,” she says. “We had a store.”