Ted Barris

It was a crisp, cold winter day. The sunshine was minimal. But the group of spectators on Parliament Hill was unexpectedly large. People in Ottawa sensed if they didn’t attend they’d miss some history. Next to a flagpole specially erected outside Parliament, then prime minister Lester Pearson arrived. Indeed, he did make history. The Red Ensign, Canada’s flag for a century was lowered for the last time. And Canada’s new flag was raised in its place.

Fifty-six years ago, last Monday, the Red Maple Leaf flag flew nationally for the first time. As noted in his book I Stand For Canada: The Story of the Maple Leaf Flag, Rick Archbold quoted Globe and Mail columnist George Bain who witnessed the flag-raising that day.

“And the feelings that a flag is a flag is a flag,” Bain wrote, “were dispelled, because it looked bold and clean, and distinctively our own.”

I’m afraid the version of Canada’s national flag that’s hung outside my front door the past year or so, has lost its original “bold and clean” look. It’s tired and faded like everything else in our lives these days.

I suppose part of the problem is – unlike the old days when school custodians or building janitors lowered the flag at the end of the day, brought it safely inside out of the elements until they raised it again the next morning – ours has hung out there night and day, good weather and bad, pre-pandemic and throughout the pandemic.

If my former neighbour, Women’s Royal Naval Service petty officer Ronnie Egan were still with us, she’d have quickly set me straight. “That is not our flag,” the Second World War veteran would’ve told me. “It’s faded, tattered, unserviceable. Replace it!”

And obeying P.O. Rodine Doris Mary Buckley-Beevers Egan, as I knew I must, I’d have erected a fresh flag by sundown.

But memories of dear Ronnie’s affection for our flag are not the only ones that stir me each Feb. 15. I have many. Some are perhaps odd. For example, when it comes to sizable Canadian flags, I’ve become attached to one that flies over a truck stop along Hwy. 401 just east of London, Ont.

Whenever I pass it I think of another vet. For many years, RCAF Spitfire pilot Charley Fox and I met there for breakfasts. The food was always hearty. Charley’s stories even heartier. And we always sat at the window so that one of the proudest Canadians I’ve ever known could see that gigantic Red Maple Leaf fluttering as a backdrop to our friendship.

Some of you will recall this one. It was late October 1995. So late, in fact, we almost lost the country. Separatist forces had forced a referendum over whether Quebec would remain in Canada or seek sovereignty association. The “No” side (to stay in Confederation) invited Canadians to come to Montreal on Oct. 27, three days before the referendum, to express solidarity with Quebecers who wanted to keep Canada together.

Some 100,000 of us dropped everything and flew, walked, drove to Place du Canada in downtown Montreal. And as speaker after speaker promoted the unity of the country, a giant Canadian flag was passed across the audience symbolizing our belief in keeping the country together. “No” won the referendum with a 50.58 per cent majority.

I’ve lost count of my favourite Olympic moments with Canadian athletes wrapping themselves in the Canadian flag. I remember high jumper Greg Joy at the Montreal Games in 1976; Silken Laumann (just 10 weeks after her big crash) at Barcelona in 1992; Andre de Grasse at Rio in 2016.

But the one that stands out for me was Daniel Igali, the Nigeria-born wrestler, who came to Canada as a young competitor, became a landed immigrant, trained and competed for his newfound country. Then, at the 2002 Sydney Games he won Canada’s first ever wrestling gold medal.

“He spontaneously wrapped himself in a large Canadian flag,” Canadian Press reported, “then, gently placed it on the ground to do a ceremonial jog around it, before kneeling to kiss it.”

There’s one more Red Maple Leaf image I’ve thought about, especially since most of us have stopped travelling and miss that privilege horribly. In one sense, I’ve always dreaded the international flights home, when the flight attendants hand out those Canada Customs declaration cards.

As aggravating as all those questions and check-boxes were to fill in, as I recall, there was always the Red Maple Leaf in background on the card, and one of the most satisfying feelings of travel: I’m back home in Canada.

So, this week for George Bain, Ronnie Egan, Charley Fox, Daniel Igali, and the hope we can soon travel abroad and back again … I’ll be raising a brand new Red Maple Leaf flag.