Commonwealth Day passes without a flag flap, again

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/03/2011 (5472 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Monday was Commonwealth Day. If you missed it, you’re forgiven. The only visible sign was 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.” 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.

Based on the Flag Act, the Department of Canadian Heritage promulgates a rule to fly the UK flag, 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 was adapted for flag use. This handsome gold and blue pennant was adopted by the 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 down Sussex Drive, festooned with the flag of their former colonial master, explaining it’s “our Commonwealth flag.”

In Toronto, city hall insists the British flag be flown for Commonwealth Day. 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, but it’s not Canadian, it’s not the Commonwealth’s, and doesn’t merit official status above others. Canada should retire these colours from official use.

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. A citizen can request that it fly in addition, but must ask every year, and, if approved, supply the flag themselves. But it’s the British flag that takes pride of place.

“That’s like flying the U.S. flag for United Nations Day!” piped David Miller before leaving the mayor’s office. Precisely.

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 is a Toronto freelance writer.