Flags Granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority: An Analytical Profile

Upon examining the flags of the provinces and territories comprising Canada, one is struck by the repetition of familiar patterns. Ontario and Manitoba have both retained a red ensign with the provincial shield in the fly inspired by the Canadianised red ensigns used as the national flag from circa 1870 to 1965. The provincial or territorial shield is also present: on a monochrome field for Alberta, on a Canadian pale for the Northwest Territories, on a regular pale for the Yukon and spread over the entire field (a banner of the arms) for Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and British Columbia. Newfoundland flies what can be viewed as a reworked version of the union flag (jack), its former provincial flag, while Québec has chosen a version of the merchant marine flag of Royal France. Saskatchewan only has opted for a somewhat less conventional design: the provincial shield in canton of a field parted per fess with the provincial flower over all.