 Chapter 3 The title of Vincent Massey's book, What's Past is Prologue, might well have served for the story of the Canadian flag. The issues discussed in the great flag debate of 1964 had been thrashed out as early as 1925, and then again in 1945 and 1946. In fact, the first real battle in Canada's long bitter campaign for a Canadian flag opened in the spring of 1925, emerging from an interdepartmental inquiry of senior service personnel who were seeking more precision and direction in the use of flags. The fourth session of the Fourteenth Parliament of Canada opened on 5 February 1925. Mackenzie King had served as prime minister since 19 December 1921, having taken office approximately one month after the royal proclamation relating to arms. During this period of office only minor consideration was given to flag. Both the Blue and the Red Ensigns were modified but only in the way of accommodating the new Canadian coat of arms in the fly, which was in the nature of a tidyingup operation; nevertheless it prompted the service specialists to reexamine previous Admiralty directives with regard to the use of the two ensigns. King's political insecurity must be fully appreciated. Although he had succeeded Laurier as leader of the Liberal party in 1919, he was not firmly lodged in this position until 1926. In the election of 1921 (and later in October 1925) he was left with a minority government and had to depend on support from the Progressives, the Farmers' Party of Ontario and the West.1 King's vulnerability will be appreciated when one remembers that the Liberals holding every riding in Quebec had no more than 117 seats in a Commons of 234. Canada's conscription difficulties of 1917 remained a bitter memory so that the prime minister held power in the Fourteenth Parliament only by treading warily. The threat of a general election rendered him extremely vulnerable, and with each passing day it seemed as if the members of his own party had less to gain by standing by him. In these circumstances the very last thing Mackenzie King wished to do was to introduce into Parliament any issue which might alienate him from support from any quarter. The Conservatives, on the other hand, were hungry for some emotional, explosive issue which might shatter the government's delicate support. As mentioned earlier, the Conservative government headed by Sir Robert Borden had appointed an arms committee in March of 1919. Subsequently, the Meighen Government, by the technique of orderincouncil and royal proclamation, established Canada's ensigns armorial consisting of shield, crest, colors and motto. The Liberals had shared no part whatever in this development, nor had Parliament been consulted in any way. Yet Meighen's action had aroused no public outcry and no serious criticism. King therefore assumed that these purely executive decisions could be conducted without opposition. In the minds of many Canadians, Canada had her own national flags. A distinctive Blue Ensign had been authorized in a preconfederation dispatch from the secretary of state for the colonies dated 16 December 1865 and later confirmed in 1870 during the John A. Macdonald regime. Canada also had a distinctive Red Ensign authorized by the British Admiralty in 1892 when Sir John Abbott's government held power. This was the result of an orderincouncil requesting the imperial authorities permit the use by Canadian merchant ships of the British Red Ensign bearing a special Canadian distinguishing feature on the fly. The orderincouncil had been passed in June 1890 during the Macdonald regime.2 The adoption of this policy of placing distinctive Canadian emblems on ensigns was ushered in by successive Conservative ministries and had excited no untoward comment. The loyalty to the Empire of those persons responsible for initiating these changes had never been questioned. The familiar Red ensign was, it should be noted, only to be flown from merchant vessels and had no official status on land. In an editorial "Flag Flying" in the Toronto Mail and Empire of 5 June 1925, the flag situation in Canada was explained succinctly: . . . all the rules the ordinary flag owner need pay attention to are few and simple. For him is just one flag that can properly be flown; that is the Union Jack. The Red Ensign, called the Canadian Flag, with the Canadian Coat of Arms in the field is proper only afloat. . . . In hoisting the flag the broad white stripe of the Cross of St. Andrew should be next to the mast- head for if reversed it is an indication of distress. The flag should never be hoisted before sunrise, nor should it continue to fly after sunset. It was all very well to have a marine flag, but what about a flag to be used on land? This question was raised by the Department of National Defense in a minute of council dated 21 April 1925. The interest of the
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