Chapter 2
Canada Obtains Arms

Technically speaking, a good national flag is based on the national colors

and the national emblem, that is to say on the heraldic achievement of a

country. Greater license is permitted in a flag with respect to colors and

emblem than on a shield, crest, or other component of armorial ensigns.

The function of a flag is to send the simple message of identity. The function

of arms is to dignify an individual, or institution, or country by

special identifying symbolism and by appropriate reference to ancestry.

Since flag and arms are accordingly closely interrelated, to understand

the Canadian flag one should have some appreciation of the Arms of

Canada.

Canada made use of a variety of emblems, notably the beaver, long

before the formal proclamation of Canada's arms in 1921. World War I

with its appeal to patriotism and its call to service in foreign lands, exerred

such a profound influence on national sentiment that Canada may

be said to have discovered her identity in the crucible of war. During the

years of travail and sacrifice the broad issues of Canadian symbolism

were resolved, for in practical terms it was the war itself that fixed in the

public mind that Canada's badge was the maple leaf.

The war quickened Canadian interest in symbolism generally for servicemen

abroad had seen with their eyes the badges, flags, arms, and

other devices of Britain and Europe in their variety and glory, the renewed

interest in heraldry made it seem perfectly reasonable, when the

war was concluded, to give serious thought to the symbol that would

signalize Canada's newly proclaimed national sovereignty.

One must stress the importance of the decisions taken by Canada's

arms committee in the years 1919 to 1921, for without an appreciation of

these decisions, the logic of Canada's flag cannot be perceived. Since

1921 modifications and refinements have taken place, even as recently as

1957. These, too, had a significant bearing on Canada's choice of flag.

Sir Joseph Pope, although by no means a heraldic expert, was a

stickler for the heraldic proprieties. On 8 June 1915, he wrote: