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The Canadian Red Ensign is the former Flag of Canada, though it was never adopted as official by the Parliament of Canada. It is a British Red Ensign design, featuring the Union Flag in the canton, defaced with the shield of the Coat of Arms of Canada. (Note that the term "deface" is used in the vexillological sense, used when an element is added to another flag's design; it has no negative connotation as it might in normal use.)

Contents 1 History 2 Others 3 Use today 4 Canadian blue ensign 5 Trivia 6 See also 7 External links

The Red Ensign was used as early as 1868 on an informal basis. From 1892, it became the official flag for use on Canadian merchant ships, though the official national flag on land was the Union Flag. Despite its lack of official status, the Red Ensign began to be widely used on land as well, and flew over the Parliament buildings until 1904 when it was replaced by the Union Flag. The original Canadian Red Ensign had the arms of the four original provinces on its shield. In 1921, the Government of Canada asked King George V to order a new coat of arms for Canada. The Royal College of Heralds thus designed a suitable coat of arms for Canada. The designed shield was displayed on the Red Ensign, thus producing the Canadian Red Ensign. In 1922, the shield of the Coat of Arms of Canada replaced the provincial arms. In 1924, the Red Ensign was approved for use on Canadian government buildings outside Canada. The Canadian Red Ensign, through history, tradition and custom was finally formalized on September 5, 1945, when the Canadian Governor General signed an Order-in-Council (P.C. 5888) which stated that "The Red Ensign with the Shield of the Coat of arms in the fly (to be referred to as "The Canadian Red Ensign") may be flown from buildings owned or occupied by the Canadian federal Government within or without Canada shall be appropriate to fly as a distinctive Canadian flag. So in 1945, the flag was officially approved for use by government buildings inside Canada as well, and once again flew over Parliament.

The Red Ensign served until 1965 when it was replaced by today's Maple Leaf Flag. The flag bore various forms of the shield from the Canadian coat of arms in its fly during the period of its use. The picture (top) shows the official form between 1957 and 1965. From 1921 until 1957, the Canadian Red Ensign was virtually the same, except that the leaves in the coat of arms were green, and there was a slight alteration to the Irish harp. A blue ensign, also bearing the shield of the Canadian coat of arms, was the jack flown by the Royal Canadian Navy and the ensign of ships owned by the Canadian government until 1965. From 1865 until Canadian Confederation in 1867, the United Province of Canada could also have used a blue ensign, but there is little evidence such a flag was ever used.

Today, two Canadian provincial flags are Red Ensigns, the flag of Ontario and the flag of Manitoba, both of which were introduced when the Canadian Red Ensign was replaced by the Maple Leaf Flag. The Liberal government of Lester Pearson promised to introduce a new flag to replace the Red Ensign, as a means of promoting national unity and Canadian identity, by replacing what was seen as a symbol of the British Empire and colonialism, with one that would be more inclusive of Canadians who are not of British stock, particularly French-Canadians. In 1965, after the Great Flag Debate in Parliament and throughout the country as a whole, the Maple Leaf flag was adopted. Groups such as the Royal Canadian Legion and others who had sympathies with maintaining Canada's links to Britain opposed the new flag as they saw it as a means of loosening that connection. The leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, John Diefenbaker, was especially passionate in his defence of the Red Ensign. In protest of the federal government's decision, Tory governments in Manitoba and Ontario adopted red ensigns as their provincial flags.

The Canadian Red Ensign continues to be flown by some Canadians, especially monarchists, other traditionalists, and those who cherish Canada's British heritage. The Canadian Red Ensign is still flown (together with the Maple Leaf) in some Royal Canadian Legion halls, as well as by many individual Canadians, especially in parts of the country populated by the descendants of United Empire Loyalists. Most people who fly the Canadian Red Ensign today, however, also accept the Maple Leaf flag, and neither the Royal Canadian Legion, nor any other traditionalist groups advocate the return of the ensign as Canada's national flag.

In recent years, many far-right and neo-Nazi groups in Canada, particularly those affiliated with Paul Fromm, have attempted to appropriate the Canadian Red Ensign as a symbol of their movement to emphasize what they assert is their adherence to traditional Canadian values. Fromm's groups, as well as other caucasian rights groups such as the Canadian Heritage Alliance, advocate the re-adoption of the ensign as Canada's national flag.

In professional wrestling, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt uses the Red Ensign to represent Canada, although the current design was issued in 1972, long after the Maple Leaf became official.

The Canadian blue ensign is similar to the red ensign. The flag was formerly used as the jack of the Royal Canadian Navy from its inception until the adoption of the Maple Leaf flag in 1965. The blue ensign was approved by the British Admiralty in 1868 for use by ships owned by the Canadian government.

In the first half of the 20th century, Blue Ensigns for each province of Canada often appeared in charts of "all the world's flags", but these flags were just fantasies of the artists who drew the charts, and then copied by other artists putting together similar charts. They never existed in real life.

During the 1990s an urban myth was developed by a circulation of e-mails reporting that the American flag was printed on the two dollar bill. The myth stated that the American flag could be seen flown on the Peace Tower depicted behind Queen Elizabeth II on the bank note. This flag is in fact the modern Maple Leaf flag. However, on the contemporaneous $10 and $50 bills, the Canadian Red Ensign is shown, but in such a small size that it was confusable with the U.S. flag.

• British ensigns

• Red and Blue Ensigns, Canada History including chronology
• Red Ensign jigsaw puzzle online game
• Red Ensign Flag - Canada online sales
• The Flags of Canada by Alister B. Fraser
• Chronology of the Canadian Red Ensign
• Canada - history of the flag (1867-1870)
• Canada - history of the flag (1870-1873)
• Canada - history of the flag (1873-1892)
• Canada - history of the flag (1892-1907)
• Canada - history of the flag (1907-1921)
• Canada - history of the flag (1921-1957)
• Canada - history of the flag (1957-1965)
• Flags of the Royal Canadian Navy 1910-1965

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