Chapter 2
Canada Obtains Arms

Two suggestions have been made—first that the Red and

Blue Ensign should be changed, the white cross of France on a

red field being adopted with the Union Jack in the upper left

hand corner. The flag showing this suggestion is herewith. The

second suggestion is that the Red and Blue Ensign should bear

on the fly not the Arms of Canada, but a white disc with the

three maple leaves, in green on the Red Ensign and in red on

the Blue Ensign.

This latter suggestion was by no means novel. To the Canadian Almanac

of 1896, E. M. Chadwick had contributed a significant article entitled

"The Canadian Flag."2 He recommended that the flag of Canada be a

blue ensign containing in the fly a white roundel charged with three red

maple leaves conjoined. For the time, 1896, this recommendation made

excellent sense and displayed a sophisticated knowledge of the heraldic

options as well as an understanding of ensigns.

The following committee notes, which are undated and unsigned, af-

ford some clues as to the process of reasoning that was then taking place

with respect to an appropriate shield, or arms proper, for Canada:

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

1. The object of the Committee is to secure a satisfactory

emblem or symbol for Canada, which will embody personal

and national loyalty and pride.

2. The characteristics which they deem desirable are: Suitable

use of emblems of a specially Canadian nature. Aesthetic and

practical advantages, among which be enumerated:—Simplicity;

ease of execution and recognition; beauty. Appeal to

the sentiments of the general public.

3. The grand object is to embody in one design a reference to

the past, a suggestion of our present status as a daughter nation,

and a vision of the hopes of our future. Our national life

is derived from the three countries of the United Kingdom and

from France of the prerevolutionary, monarchical period;

Canada thus inherits the arms and sovereignty of these four nations

. . . and it happens that English and British Kings from

Edward III to George III bore the arms of France in their escutcheons.

By inheritance, then, Canada is entitled to the lions

of England, the lion of Scotland, the harp of Ireland and the

lilies of France, the premier emblems of the Mother countries.

4. As regards a Canadian Emblem, the maple leaf on the whole

at once is the favorite, and is the most susceptible of artistic

treatment. Not only has it been long in use but during the war