BEYOND LOCAL: Different schools of thought on why Canada drapes itself with red and white – Burlington Today
July 1 2024
The red and white of the Canadian flag are not unique, with a number of countries including Japan, Denmark, Indonesia and Switzerland displaying those colours, yet they are often associated with Canada
FREDERICTON — Canada’s unofficial national colours will be on full display Monday as Canadians don patriotic T-shirts, wave hand-held flags and hang bunting to celebrate their country. But while the red-and-white flag for the most part unites Canadians, the colours’ meaning is open to interpretation.
Xavier Gélinas, a curator at the Canadian Museum of History, said there is no authoritative source that explains why the country drapes itself in red and white.
“It has never been stated clearly, explicitly anywhere, that red and white are Canada’s official colours,” he said in a recent interview.
