Tanner S.

The Pennant Race

Tanner S.
District School Board of Niagara Heritage Fair
Welland, ON

In 1867, the year Canada was created, Canadians decided to raise the Royal Union Jack as the Canadian flag. When William Lyon Mackenzie King was Prime minister, he attempted to make a new Canadian Flag twice. In the end, the project was cancelled because the soldiers wanted to keep the same flag that they had fought under in the wars. Finally, in 1964, Lester B. Pearson decided to form a new flag committee to create a new flag for Canada and that’s exactly what he did. Parliament gave the flag committee 42 days and they had 35 meetings. The flag committee asked the public to give them ideas for a new flag. The public had 5900 ideas. 1611 of them had maple leaves. The flag committee narrowed it down to three flags. 

The flag committee tested these flags with different tests. One of the tests was a wind condition test. After a while, the variation of the Red Ensign started to tear in the top corner. It was hard to recognise the Fleur-de-Lis. The flag committee voted between George Stanley's design and the Pearson Pennant. It was unanimously decided that George Stanley's design had won. That is how the Canadian flag came to be. 

What sources and evidence did you consult for your project? What different perspectives did they provide on your topic?

The Heritage Minute video gave me a short summary of the history of the Canadian flag. This video was an excellent starting point for my research. I learned there were other alternate flags. I also learned there were different political people involved. Each website gave me insight into specific parts of my topic. I had to be careful on what information I took since sites had conflicting information. At one point I ran into trouble with someone’s name being different. Lester B Pearson was also nicknamed Mike Pearson. 

What is the historical significance of your topic?

The Canadian flag is a symbol that represents Canada to the world. Originally Canada was represented by the Royal Union Jack. The historical significance of Canada choosing a Canadian flag showed our independence as a country of our own. 

Why did you choose this topic? 

I chose this topic for 3 reasons. First, my Poppa has many flags that he flies in his backyard. The idea of learning about the origin of the Canadian flag seemed interesting. Secondly, on February 14, 2025, it was the Canadian flag's 60th birthday. I thought this would be a good year to choose the Canadian flag as my topic. Finally, once I had narrowed it down to 2 possible topics,before I made my final decision, I learned that the prime minister at the time the Canadian flag was created was named Lester B. Pearson. He has a park named after him on Niagara Street in St Catharines.