Ontario needs a New Provincial Flag

by Marcus Mayer, B.A., M.B.A.

	Ontario's current provincial flag.

In 2001, NAVA, the North American Vexillological Association conducted a poll asking its members and the public their opinions of flag designs in the U.S. and Canada. The top three results ranked New Mexico’s, Texas’ and Quebec’s respective flags first, second and third. Unsurprisingly, the results ranked Ontario’s flag 43rd out of 72.

After decades of flapping in the breeze, the current Ontario flag has become an outdated symbol for the 21st century. Our flag is a variation of the British ensign, the flag flown over colonies of the United Kingdom. Not only is it completely indistinguishable at a distance from Manitoba’s flag, Bermuda’s flag and Fiji’s Civil Ensign, but it is a constant reminder of a colonial relationship that simply no longer exists.

Long ago this was an accurate description of Ontario’s place in the world, when she was known as Upper Canada. However the sun has long set on the British Empire in North America. The Union Jack in the canton implies that Ontario’s allegiance ultimately lies with a foreign country thousands of miles away: Great Britain. The message to the rest of the world is that should the United Kingdom go to war, Ontario would unquestionably be obliged to follow suit. Ultimately through the symbolism carried by her flag, Ontario is globally relegated to a mere colonial status just like the Falkland Islands or Gibraltar. Is this really what we want Ontario to mean to the rest of the world?

Ontario prides herself on having one of the world’s most ethnically diverse cities on the planet, Toronto. Many of her other cities feature this same diversity. The Union Jack anachronistically flying above Ontario in an ever increasingly ethnically diverse province, sorely needs a change. When the fabric of Ontario is sewn from hundreds of different ethnicities, it is disrespectful to Ontarians to keep the Union Jack sewn on Ontario’s flag in 2007.

Why don’t we leave it up to the people of Ontario to design a great flag worthy of being flown all over Ontario? (Indeed, Canadians had chosen our current flag design, with the Maple Leaf, that was raised over Parliament Hill in 1965) I propose an immediate contest for Ontarians to redesign the Ontario flag, judged by the people of Ontario. After all, doesn’t the ultimate symbol of Ontario deserve to be representative of her people?

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