Happy Flag Day!

On February 15, 1965 at noon, the new flag of Canada was raised at City Hall in Kingston. This was not a moment too soon, as there had already been a string of complaints about the tattered state of the flags that had flown on City Hall that year. The City had wisely not replaced them earlier because the new flags were already on order. At the same hour the flag was being raised on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, and the Speaker of the Senate, Maurice Bourget declared “The flag is the symbol of the nation’s unity, for beyond any doubt, it represents all the citizens of Canada without distinction of race, language, belief, or opinion. February 15th was officially declared Flag Day by Jean Chrétien in 1996, but has never been made a national holiday.