Ontario Flag needs replacing

[PinkLucy]

I like the red ensign, but I like shoutouts to tradition. I do like those running legs on the Isle of Man flag though.

 

[DonValleyRainbow]

Here's my take.

I agree this is a great design. Any chance you could post some more variations using red, gold and green?

 

[W. K. Lis]

It's not just Ontario's flag that needs replacing (or removal). See link.

The British Union Flag, or Union Jack, was once a part of many flags in countries that were once part of the British Empire, but is now only incorporated into a few. In 1965, Canada dropped the national Red Ensign flag, which had a Union Jack in the corner, in favour of today’s distinctive red and white Maple Leaf after years of heated debate.

New Zealand is holding a referendum next year on whether to change its flag, which features the Southern Cross constellation with the Union Jack in the top left corner. Some critics view the flag as an unwanted relic from a colonial past and too similar to the flag of neighbouring Australia — which has no plans to drop the Union Jack from its banner. Others, including many combat veterans, remain deeply attached to it. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has said he believes “this is the right time for New Zealanders to consider changing the design to one that better reflects our status as a modern, independent nation.”

The Pacific Island nation of Fiji is also preparing to remove the Union Jack from its flag, after the prime minister said it needs something that represents its future and not its colonial past.

 

[Tewder]

I think throw everything out, official colour and all, but keep the classic stylized trillium logo somewhere part of the new flag and start from there.

How about a banner of beige for a soulless and history-less collectivity of people coexisting.... plus a trillium?

 

[pman]

Why do so many people in this country, aside from the Québécois, feel so offended by any reminders of our history and tradition? Ontario started as a British colony that rapidly became a refuge for Tories fleeing the American Revolution. Our institutions, language and history are all British. Our current flag reflects that reality.

 

[FNTS]

Ontario should define itself on its own terms, not by saying "hey, we're a little bit British", which is kind of sad.
And besides, the history of Ontario started way before the British arrived. You know Ontario is an Iroquois word, right?

 

[junctionist]

British people came here and created a new nation over time. Considering that it has been a successful nation over time, the identity of its ancestors shouldn't always define it.

 

[Armour]

Ontario should define itself on its own terms, not by saying "hey, we're a little bit British", which is kind of sad.
And besides, the history of Ontario started way before the British arrived. You know Ontario is an Iroquois word, right?

The British have far more to do with our culture than the Iroquois. Without the colonization of this province and country by the British and other European groups, the land would still be entirely made up of forests. If you're implying that there should be some sort of native gesture on our provincial flag, that is fine, but make a case for it. Them being here before the British is irrelevant and plays no role in the factors that took this land from merely vast wilderness to the civilized, industrial place that exists today. I'm sorry, but native groups are largely isolated from the rest of the province/country, living on reservations. It wasn't their influence that created this province or nation, therefore, why should that be reflected on our provincial flag? The British have no Roman symbolism on the Union Jack; and the Romans were far more important to Britain's history than any native group was to Canada. Additionally, the native tribes were constantly at war with each other, displacing established groups. Who does the land really belong to?

 

[the lemur]

Our institutions, language and history are all British.

The first and second elements of that proposition are something of an overstatement.

Our current flag reflects that reality.

The question is how long should it continue to do so and how long should we be resigned to having yet another red flag with the Union Jack in the corner.

 

[the lemur]

British people came here and created a new nation over time. Considering that it has been a successful nation over time, the identity of its ancestors shouldn't always define it.

If I'm not mistaken, the UK is the only (former) colonizer whose flag appears within the flag of some of its (former) possessions. Why should we persist in that? How important to the UK are we, really?

 

[FNTS]

The British have no Roman symbolism on the Union Jack

Then the Ontario flag should have no British symbolism. I find your whole pro-British argument colonialist and maybe a little bit racist (the history of First Nations is "irrelevant"? the British "civilized" this place? really?). I love Britain and all things British, but Ontario hasn't been a British colony for a long time, and all the better for it.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Then the Ontario flag should have no British symbolism. I find your whole pro-British argument colonialist and maybe a little bit racist (the history of First Nations is "irrelevant"? the British "civilized" this place? really?). I love Britain and all things British, but Ontario hasn't been a British colony for a long time, and all the better for it.

Besides, if Canada as a country can outgrow that symbolism in our national flag, there is really not good excuse for Ontario not to.

AoD

 

[Johnny Au]

It is time that Ontario develops a new identity, one that is obviously not British.

When Hong Kong became a part of China, it removed anything British from its flag.

A large number of Ontarians, especially in urban areas, don't have any British blood in them at all.

Canada outgrew its Britishness and developed its own identity, one that celebrates multiculturalism.

Toronto's current flag does not have the Union Jack on it for a very good reason.

Oh, and Maple Leaf Forever is not Canada's current official national anthem.

 

[sixrings]

This country is so young and yet we are still so fast to get rid of the small history we have. I do not agree it needs to go nor do i agree we get our identity from a provincial flag. I dont think because one country does one thing that we need to copy them.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

This country is so young and yet we are still so fast to get rid of the small history we have. I do not agree it needs to go nor do i agree we get our identity from a provincial flag. I dont think because one country does one thing that we need to copy them.

History is made, and it got to start somewhere. I'd rather get on with the task of making it instead of clinging to what little colonial vestiges we had.

AoD