Commonwealth Day marked with British, not Commonwealth, flag

March 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Today is Commonwealth Day. If that’s news, you’re forgiven. The only visible sign is a flag. Not the Commonwealth flag, mind you—the British flag. And that’s the problem. Every year, Ottawa reminds federal properties across the country to fly the Union Jack. It’s a suggestion followed assiduously by the City of Toronto and others, despite the Commonwealth having its own inclusive banner, one that’s Canadian in origin.

To comprehend the irony, revisit the days of the flag debate of the 1960s. Passions were high, both for and against adopting the Maple Leaf. In the final 1964 Flag Act, a line was inserted to placate pro-British sentiment for the old Red Ensign, which had the Union Jack in its upper corner. That line promised the British flag would be “Canada’s symbol of membership in the Commonwealth”. It was a consolation prize that predated the Commonwealth flag by a decade. The authors had no idea that, nearly a half century on, Canada’s symbol for a group of 53 independent nations would be the flag of only one of them—Britain’s.

Based on the Flag Act, the Department of Canadian Heritage promulgates a rule to fly the UK flag for Commonwealth Day, which it guesses came from the prime minister’s office in the 1970s.

The timing is curious, because, in 1973, Ottawa hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. Pierre Trudeau wanted distinctive car flags created for visiting leaders, so a stylized “C” symbol already devised was adapted for flag use. This handsome gold and blue pennant was eventually adopted by the entire Commonwealth as its official flag in 1976, thanks to the initiative of another Canadian, Arnold Smith, its first secretary-general.

Today, it flies atop Westminster Abbey in London, and at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh each Commonwealth Day. But, incredibly, it’s not official in Canada. Foreign Affairs must squirm with embarrassment when hosting Commonwealth events. Imagine taking emissaries from India or Pakistan down Sussex Drive, festooned with the flag of their former colonial master, explaining it’s “our Commonwealth flag,” here. Then again, they might pity us.

Here in Toronto, City Hall insists the British flag be flown for Commonwealth Day, attached to the cenotaph at Old City Hall year-round, and placed in the rotunda of City Hall 365 days a year. According to the city’s website, it’s “because Canada is a member of the British Commonwealth.”

We’re also a member of NATO, the UN, and play at the Olympics, but those flags don’t appear. What’s more, there is no “British Commonwealth”. It’s the Commonwealth of Nations, and its constitution explicitly says member states are equal, none superior to another. The British flag is, doubtless, one of the most appealing of all, but it’s not Canadian, it’s not the Commonwealth’s, and doesn’t merit official status above others. Canada should stop playing favourites, and retire these colours from official use.

Even the Commonwealth Secretariat in London was surprised to learn of our antiquated protocol. “The Union Jack…is [not] a substitute for the Commonwealth flag, which represents the association of 53 members and their peoples,” says Simon Grimson at the Secretary-General’s office.

In Ottawa, calls to Heritage Minister James Moore’s office for a change to this and other flag rules have thus far gone unanswered. Some protocols, astonishingly, demote the Maple Leaf flag itself from the position of honour.

For years, Toronto City Hall has refused to replace the British with the Commonwealth flag on the one day dedicated to that body. A citizen can request that it fly in addition, but must petition every year, and, if approved, supply the flag themselves. But it’s the British flag that takes the annual pride of place.

“That’s like flying the U.S. flag for United Nations Day!” piped Mayor David Miller before leaving office. Precisely. Let’s help the new administration fix this. After all, no city is bound by Ottawa’s flag rules, and Toronto is mulling a change. A word to the feds would help, too.

Canada and the Commonwealth have come a long way since 1964, and it’s time flag protocol caught up. It behooves us to cease using a foreign country’s flag as a surrogate, and, instead enlist the global symbol Canada, itself, inaugurated.

Wayne Adam


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Canada is a democratic & diverse nation. We must cease all ties to the British Monarchy, a foreign institution that undermines Human Rights. It’s time to drop the queen and become a Canada for Canadians with our own democratically elected Head of State