A symbol of national pride

With their country's 141st birthday fast approaching, citizens across the country are currently pondering what it means to be Canadian.
"When I think about Canada, I think about our Canadian flag with the maple leaf," said Guy Kergan, who has been on the Moose Jaw Canada Day committee for 24 years. "It signifies what most average people think of on Canada Day and what it means to be Canadian."
Fellow committee member Patricia McKibben agreed.
"It would have to be the maple leaf," she said when asked which Canadian symbol she thought was most important.
"It's always been a favourite of mine."
With Canada Day just hours away, the Times-Herald looks into how the country's most prominent symbols came to be.
The maple leaf
According to the Government of Canada website, the maple leaf was adopted as the national emblem at a public meeting in Toronto in August 1860.
The design was used on decorations for the Prince of Wales' visit that same year and later worn on military badges by Canadian soldiers during the First and Second World Wars.
The Canadian Flag
It wasn't until 1965 that our current flag was adopted by Parliament as the official flag of Canada.
Since the maple leaf had already been named the official emblem of the country, it was an easy decision to put the 11-point symbol in the middle of the design.
The colours red and white were chosen to represent both France and England, the countries that founded Canada.
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.
The beaver
Before becoming the national icon of Canada, Hudson's Bay Company honoured the buck-toothed animal by putting it on the shield of its coat of arms in 1678 after beaver pelts became the company's most lucrative item. Due to the fur trade, the beaver was close to extinction by the mid-19th century.
It attained official status as an emblem of Canada when an "act to provide for the recognition of the beaver (castor canadensis) as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada" received royal assent on March 24, 1975.

Lacey Sheppy can be reached at 691-1264.


For more on Canada Day, including a Canada Day quiz, please pickup Monday's Times-Herald.