AN EMPIRE FLAG

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4262, 23 January 1901, Page 7

AN EMPIRE FLAG

The : ‘St. Jauic.As Gazette” did (writes a Canadian, imperialist to that paper) good servile to tho Umpire in opening its column-. to a discussion of inEmpire flag. The flag” to us in Canada, a; wi-i! as t o Phil fliers in the Mother Count ry and the rest of the Empire, means a. good deal more than a mere commercial emblem of national device. Wo in Canada, know what it is to havo the fear of invasion by a nation of 80.000,000 pi-epic south of a, border lino oi over JUOO miles constantly held up to us, and to ho told unceasingly of the might, majesty, bower, and Imperial expansion symbolised by the friars and Stripes, and of the manifest destiny of Canada to ho sooner or later ab.sorbot! peacefully or by conquest, as the case may be, by tno great Republic. We knew what it is .to live in a country conquered from a rival European Power, and side by siii” wilt neighbours who speak, read and write a foreign language, and insist upon that language being perpetuated in the official documents of I he Dominion and in all courts of the province of Quebec, and delight, in flyi.ng the tricolour on every possible occasion. We have lived to, .see a, lai-ee and growing national movement on the part "of the foreign element referred to actively opposing the British war in South Africa, and the principle cf tho participation of Canada in any future British war. When the flag, our own. British ensign, or Union Jack, is seen going up it therefore moans a good deal more 5 to us than it usually does to people in the Mother Country or parts of the Empire not situated as we arc. Tho flag most popularly used in Eng-lish-speaking Canada, is the - Li irish red ensign with Canada’s badge on it. The British -hino cn.-ign and the Union Jack are also used, bub not so generally. -The blue ensign is an official flag,- ami- no', often hoisted. The Union Jack has no room on it for Canada’s diitinguishiuc badge; it is ■ ail diagonal crosses of white, red and blue, emblematic of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick tho patron saints of England, Scotland and Ireland.

The red ensign of Canada is the red ensign of Great Britain, until the badge of Canada on the red ground on the right, hand. The rod ensign, it will be remembered, lias the emblematic crosses of the three nations in the upper lefthand corner, all the rest of the flag being red. The badge of Canada was authorised on February 2, 181)2. It was in the form of a shield, in four quarters, containing the coats of arms of lire four provinceforming Ike Dominion of Canada at the time of confederation —namely, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Tim published coloured plates of the badge represent the shield on a circular background 1 of white and surmounted by the crown, with a lion on the crown. Nearly all the manufacturer, flags of the day, however, as a concession to the national fancy, show the shield with a wreath of maple leaves nearly encircling it, instead of on. a white circular background, and with five quarters, Manitoba’s coat of arms having been added to the coats of arms of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Home flags now show the shield with seven quarters. British Columbia and Prince Edward Island being added to tho five provinces above named. These comprise all the prov inces of Canad at present but as th@ north-west territory and the Yukon district fill up, other provinces will in duo course have to be found a place on iho flag. Ontario’s quartering on the badge of Canada consists of St. George’s Cross in the upper part, with throe maple leaves underneath.

Quebec’s quarter is divided into three parts—first, the fleur-de-lis on lop of a yellow ground; second, lion in centre on red ground ; and third, maple leaves tin. derncath on yellow ground. Nova Scotia’s quarter is also divided into three parts—top. three Scotch thistles on yellow ground; centre, a. fish on blue gi-ound; bottom, one large Scotch thistle on yellow ground 1 . New Brunswick’s quarter is in two parts—On the top. lien on red ground ; underneath, a ship against yellow background, on green water. Thei’e is a five-quartered badge including Manitoba divided thus—Two coats of arms—those of Ontario' and Quebec —side by side on the top. and three coats of arms—those of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Manitoba—side by side underneath. Manitoba’s coat of arms is divided into two parts—St. George’s Cross at the top and a- buffalo below.

The completion of the federation of the Australian colonies will, it is assumed, bo followed by an Admiralty warrant similar to that issued to Canada, author-: ising a badge containing the coats of arms of all the Australian colonies included in the Commonwealth Bill being placed on the British national ensign. The same with South Africa when the time comes. India possibly has her badge already. In this way each confederated group of States under the British flag has, or will have, its own flag, the British ensign, namely, with a distinguishing badge. The process of uninterrupted evolution might consequently create an Empire flag, with the nation- 1 al crosses of the Union Jack in the tipper left-hand corner and the badges of the confederated groups distributed .in the order of constitutional formation. Each separate badge, as shown in the published plates of the Canadian badge, could be placed on a white circular background, and thus coincide in that respect with the very forcible suggestions of "An Old Imperialist.” It must be confessed that in Canada an impulse has of late been given to the movement in favour of a simple maple leaf on the British ensign, . The maple leaf is the favourite national emblem in Canada generally, and the green shows up well cn the red background. If cue shields are to remain the badge of_Canada on the flag there will be so many of them as the provinces increase by new provinces being formed that the respective shields will become ridiculously small.

As regards the Union Jack, it will probably forever remain what it is—the universal British emblem. There) is no room on it for shields or badges; the national crosses of England, Scotland and Ireland fill it completely. To the Britons of Greater Britain it is a very sacred emblem indeed, and not tO' be tampered! with or changed in any way whatever. -