Old Canadian/Province Flag Help

[Riverkilt]

Apologies to old forum members, I tried this a few years ago by scanning, remembered I have a camera now. I don't think we ever resolved this other than that apparently some merchants created their own versions of flags back then.



This is a picture of a flag my father had with his things I found after he died. My guess is that it might be an old Nova Scotia flag. He enlisted with the Royal Air Force and was sent to Imperial, California for British Refresher School flight training. Then he took a train to Moncton, New Brunswick to await a ship from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Scotland in April 1942.

My first guess is this was a Nova Scotia flag of the times since his grandfather came from Nova Scotia...fish, boats, on the crest. But could also be New Brunswick. Thought it could be Alberta but don't think there'd be fish and boats on the crest. Or a version of the old Canadian flag.

Here's a close up of the crest



The sort of fleur de lis in the top right make me think Nova Scotia too.

Thanks for any help and apologies if I just forgot what we figured out a few years ago...but don't think we did...did we....?

Ron

[macwilkin]

It's not Nova Scotia, Ron. More likely it's a variant of the old Canadian Red Ensign. Besides, Nova Scotia never used fleur-de-lis as a symbol; you're thinking of Quebec.

As new provinces entered Confederation, or when they received some mark of identification (sometimes taken from their seal), that mark was incorporated into the shield on the Canadian Red Ensign. By the turn of the century, the shield was made up of the coats of arms of the seven provinces then in Confederation.

-- http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/pr...c-cs/df5_e.cfm

In addition, there are some interesting comments here:

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ca-reden.html

For mor information about Nova Scotia's flag, read this article:

http://www.fraser.cc/FlagsCan/Provinces/NS.html

Regards,

Todd

[The Wizard of BC]

I thought we had solved this the last time you posted it.

The flag you have is called "The Red Ensign" and was between 1892 and 1924 was what was flown on Canadian merchant ships. In 1924 it was adopted as the distinguishing flag of Canada and after 1945 was flown on Govt. and public buildings and on embassies overseas.

The crest on the flag is the crest of Canada and the symbols on it are representative of all of the provences. Over the years there have been many versions of the crest hense many different Red Ensigns.

The Maple Leaf Flag is one of the youngest national flags in the world and was not officially flown until Feb. 15 1965.

A lot of the older people I speak with remember fondly the Red Ensign. To them it is the flag they grew up with. To them it still represents The British Empire and Canada's membership. It is the flag that when in school the stood and sang "God save the Queen" to in the morning. To them it still is Canada's Flag.

[macwilkin]

I thought we had solved this the last time you posted it.

The flag you have is called "The Red Ensign" and was between 1892 and 1924 was what was flown on Canadian merchant ships. In 1924 it was adopted as the distinguishing flag of Canada and after 1945 was flown on Govt. and public buildings and on embassies overseas.

The crest on the flag is the crest of Canada and the symbols on it are representative of all of the provences. Over the years there have been many versions of the crest hense many different Red Ensigns.

The Maple Leaf Flag is one of the youngest national flags in the world and was not officially flown until Feb. 15 1965.

A lot of the older people I speak with remember fondly the Red Ensign. To them it is the flag they grew up with. To them it still represents The British Empire and Canada's membership. It is the flag that when in school the stood and sang "God save the Queen" to in the morning. To them it still is Canada's Flag.

We did, Steve -- see my post above.

T.

[Big Mikey]

Hi Ron. I managed to find the following on a quick search.

Regarding provincial flags, Prince Edward Island has an elongated lion and tree, New Brunswick has a lion and ship, Nova Scotia has a reverse saltire and lion rampant, Ontario has maple leaves, Quebec has fleur de lis, lion and maple leaves.

I found no mention of fish or what appears to be a bull on your flag. The red ensign with the Canadian coat of arms was authorized to be used overseas in 1945. I would venture a guess that your red ensign may have belonged to a national military group and they tried to incorporate symbols representative of all provinces.

Though it is only supposition, I hope this helps.


A little slow on entering. Thanks old guys above.

[macwilkin]

Hi Ron. I managed to find the following on a quick search.

Regarding provincial flags, Prince Edward Island has an elongated lion and tree, New Brunswick has a lion and ship, Nova Scotia has a reverse saltire and lion rampant, Ontario has maple leaves, Quebec has fleur de lis, lion and maple leaves.

I found no mention of fish or what appears to be a bull on your flag. The red ensign with the Canadian coat of arms was authorized to be used overseas in 1945. I would venture a guess that your red ensign may have belonged to a national military group and they tried to incorporate symbols representative of all provinces.

Though it is only supposition, I hope this helps.

Again, see articles posted above.

Todd

[Riverkilt]

Thanks guys, I be addled and aged...remember us rumaging but not solving...it gets worse every day.

Certainly makes sense considering the times the flag comes from.

And, optimist that I can be thought maybe the Nova Scotians were paying some sort of tribute to Louisberg with the Fleur de lis....

Thanks for the help, twice. Nice to have a plausable story for the grandkids.

Ron