The brief history of a renowned flag

A challenging start

The maple leaf's first days weren't easy. In the months following its first appearance, the flag's bright red colours faded quickly, turning from red to pink to rust.

In June 1965, then prime minister Lester B. Pearson tasked the National Defence (DND) with maintaining the integrity of the new national flag. As one of the country's primary flag users, DND maintained specifications for various flags.

An interdepartmental committee was formed with representatives from DND and the Canadian Government Specifications Board, founded in 1934 and now known as the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB), an organization within Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). Together, they created the first national flag standard, 98-GP-1, A Standard for the National Flag of Canada (Nylon Taffeta).

Preserving origin

Today, with more than 90 years of experience, the CGSB still leads the National Flag of Canada Committee, which maintains 3 separate flag standards. These standards have specific requirements for the design, colours, materials and use, as stated in the National Flag of Canada Manufacturing Standards Act. Each standard has its own unique specifications. All Canadian flags used by the government must conform to the CGSB standards.

In our quest to preserve the brief history of our renowned flag, its first original designs had to be digitized. So the CGSB turned to the experts at the Document Imaging Solutions Centre (DISC), also part of PSPC, to convert the original designs into a digital format.

DISC project manager Vanessa Fournier-Charest states, "When we received the documents, we realized how fragile they were and how important it was that we treat them carefully so that we could preserve their historical value and avoid further deterioration. Handling the documents carefully, we were able to strategically position the information to be digitized to maximize the quality of the documents and show the historical aspect of the collection as digital files."

To avoid loss or damages, the documents had to be hand-carried from the CGSB in Ottawa, Ontario, to the Imaging and Receiver General Operations Directorate offices in Matane, Quebec, where the documents were digitized. Once digitized and sent to the CGSB, the original drawings were archived for long-term preservation.