Canada's Maple Leaf Flag: A Reflection of Society

A great cause for the establishment of this tremendous flag was the demand for international autonomy. As a “middle power” during the Cold War, Canada was striving to find its own path towards an autonomous identity. First and foremost, the flag debate was a critical issue for Canada to step out of the cradle of mother Britain. Diefenbaker and his anglophone supporters strongly opposed this revolutionary change because of their rooted and inveterate idea of being British subjects instead of Canadians. Throughout the debate, Diefenbaker constantly restated the importance of Canada’s historic ties with Britain by arguing “the design forgets our past” and “shows nothing of our heritage”. For an autonomous government, it was fatal to eliminate British imperialism with a refreshing and unique flag, or Canada would not have its own cultural or political identity. Pearson stated that “our ties to the mother country do not include any political subordination”, thus the flag should be “exclusively Canadian”. As the flag reflected, Canada stepped out of the shadow of Britain with a peculiar Canadian identity. Additionally, a distinctive national flag would prevent Canada from being assimilated by the Southern neighbor, the United States. As Pearson recalled in his memoirs, “the flag was part of a deliberate design...to guard against the wrong kind of American penetration.” The Maple Leaf Flag reflected the growing anti-Americanism at the time with its unique Canadian features and granted Canada’s courage to pull away from US’s abyss of the Vietnam War.