In Defense of the Maple Leaf

 

            I salute the flag, the emblem of my country, and to Canada I pledge my love and loyalty. 

    Those few words echo in my head from a time when we stood and uttered them before the start of every school day. They've resurfaced lately as I've reflected on the state of our country and the meaning of its National Flag.

    There are protocols that define the importance of and reverence to the symbol of our National Flag. Following is excerpted from the Government of Canada's codes of flag etiquette regarding its display and dignity:

           

            The National Flag of Canada should be displayed only in a manner befitting its significance as a National symbol. It does not matter if the flag is made out of cloth, paper, or another fabric or material.

           

            In all cases, the flag should never:

 

- Be used as a decoration or draping, table/seat cover, curtain or divider or as a barrier on a stage or platform.

- Be used as a masking for boxes, to drape a platform, or to cover a speaker's podium.

- Be signed or marked in any way. A border may be attached to the outside edge of the flag where it is acceptable to have signatures while leaving the flag unmarked.

- Be used as wearing apparel or worn as a cape.

- Touch the ground.

- Be dipped or lowered to the ground as a means of paying a salute or compliment to any person or thing.

- Be flown in a discolored or tattered condition, be burned in effigy, be stepped on or be flown upside down (except as a signal of distress in instances of extreme danger to life)

- Have anything pinned or sewn on it.

 

            When displayed as a pennant on a vehicle, it is to be flown from the right front fender when it is flown alone. It should be noted that only the Prime Minister may use the National Flag of Canada as a distinguishing flag on a vehicle. Visiting dignitaries may also fly their personal flags from their vehicles similarly but if sharing the vehicle with the Prime Minister, it will be flown from the left front fender unless that vehicle also contains Her Majesty the Queen then her personal Canadian Flag will occupy the right fender and the Prime Minister's will be on the left. It is not accepted to fly the National Flag of Canada in such a manner from a moving vehicle that does not contain either the Prime Minister or a visiting dignitary.

            A flag is considered to be worn when the colour has faded, it has developed a hole or the outermost seam (fly) of the flag has become frayed. When a flag becomes tattered and is no longer in a suitable condition for use, it should be disposed of in a dignified manner.

The disposal of a flag may be handled in the following manner:

 

- Flags made of natural fibres (wool, cotton, linen) should be burned in a dignified manner, privately, without ceremony or public attention being drawn to the destruction of the material.

- Flags made of synthetic material (nylon or polyester) should not be burned due to environmental damage and potential fire hazard. They should be respectfully torn into strips, with each element of the flag reduced to a single colour, so that the remaining pieces do not resemble a flag. The individual pieces should then be placed in a bag for disposal – the shreds of fabric should not be reused or fashioned into anything.

           

            A friend remarked to me about how he noticed the recent popularity of displaying the Canadian flag on everything from haystacks to farm and industrial equipment to cattleliners and moving vehicles. A many time vacationer to the US, he compared Canada's reserved flag waving practice with the common practice of displaying colors in America. His take on the difference was that Americans were proud to be American and that because we haven't flown a flag until recently on our homes and businesses we must therefore not be proud to be Canadian. He asked me what I thought about that - I said my answer to that question makes some people uncomfortable.

            Another friend asked me what I thought about the proliferation and manner which flags were being displayed recently. The answer to that requires that I establish some context. This also may cause some discomfort for some. Bear with me.

            For background, here's my two cent's worth about Patriotism and its not-so-subtle cousin Nationalism. There's a distinction between the two that's important to note. To me, Patriotism is the love, loyalty and devotion to one's country that inspires citizens to serve the country for the greater good of all of its people. Nationalism in the broad sense is excessive patriotism that asserts the interests of one's own nation as separate from other nations or of common interests of all nations. In a nutshell, it's being proud of your country versus being proud to be Canadian. A simpler distinction in my opinion is that Patriotism is about what and who you love,  toxic Nationalism is more likely about what and who you hate. My opinion only and subject to criticism.

            Our own liberal democracies viewed Nationalism favorably as we wrested our sovereignty from the monarchy. Nationalism has since become corrupted by the taste of power and has assumed the mantle of some fascist ideologies that have notions of superiority. Particularly when it comes to race, ethnicity, and religion. We're seeing those far-right intolerant characteristics raise their heads as our political landscapes become divided and citizens split into tribes along those ideological faultlines.

            Here is where I'm seeing those flags being hoisted in the name of Patriotism when, in fact, they're very succinct demonstrations of Nationalism. No longer are they being displayed as symbols of the greater community good but ensigns of battle marking territory where selflessness has given way to selfishness and the greater good has been supplanted by individualism masquerading as salvation.

            Ordinarily, I wouldn't have had much trouble with displaying the Maple Leaf in celebration of our identity and to mark occasions of achievement such as at international sporting events and celebrations of Canada Day and some other significant days where Canada contributed to efforts on the world stage in conflict. Our reputation as peace keepers is also worthy of a bit of flag waving. There is much to be proud of in the shadow of the red and white banner and that display of that pride is no trifling matter. Raising our flag on our own flagpoles should be done with the reverence of those occasions and with the greatest respect for those who fought against those who threatened our privilege to live where and how we do. They should also be mindful of those peace keepers who willingly stood between aggressors and the oppressed so that tyranny would not prevail.     Perhaps the reason that Canadians don't routinely display the National Flag is because it is such a revered - almost holy - symbol, and that we just don't consider ourselves deserving, worthy, or entitled to display it. A true depiction of Canadian humility. We will gladly salute the flag and hold it in utmost respect when displayed by those who have earned the privilege. It is more than mere decoration, and certainly more than a virtue signal.

            My Uncle served in the Canadian Armed Forces. I probably didn't know a more patriotic person. To him the Canadian flag represented everything that was/is good about Canada. He served with pride in Korea under Canada's Red Ensign banner and Union Jack. He also served as a member of the peacekeeping force in Cyprus and was equally proud to stand beneath the Maple Leaf as part of the Canadian contingent of that force. Peacekeeping was regarded as not being a soldier's job but it took soldiers to do it. 28 Canadians were killed in Cyprus in those peacekeeping duties. Many of them were known to my uncle and those souls remain part of the fabric of every flag he has flown. There was a Canadian flag displayed at every one of his homes and he made sure that there was a pole erected and flags displayed at each of the retirement and senior facilities he lived in. The apartment building in London, Ontario he and my aunt lived in for a time did not have a flagpole. He worked to ensure one was installed in their courtyard. On the day they raised the new flag there, the residents gathered on their balconies and in the courtyard and stood at attention as a resident banged O Canada! out of her apartment window on her grand piano. A similar scene occurred at the senior's facility in Summerland BC when he installed and raised a flag on the property there. He stood and saluted the new flag alongside members of the local Legion and a handful of veterans. Both these places gained a flag and pole thanks to his efforts and entirely at his own expense. When my cousin was going through his things after he passed, she found three brand new flags at the ready to be replaced each year or if the one flying became tattered.

            My cousin is similarly attached to the Maple Leaf having served as a Mountie for many years wearing the Red Serge with pride. The Flag has particular significance to her not just because she was her father's daughter but also because she chose to serve her country through her career in law enforcement. She also coached women's hockey at the elite level and is a member of BC's Hockey Hall of Fame. She coached the 2007 Women's Junior National team to a championship defeating the USA for the gold medal. Standing on the bench while the Canadian Flag was raised and the anthem played remains as an unforgettable moment of patriotic pride for her. She knows a thing or two about being proud of her country, the excellence it contains, and the sacrifice attached to public duty.

            This is the context I refer to as a framework for how I regard today's zealous display of our country's banner. As my uncle would be dismayed to see a tattered flag or one touching the ground in disrepair or neglect, I am similarly dismayed at the disrespect of our national banner as it is being used today. They are revered symbols and should be treated with that reverence and respect. My uncle would seldom pass a flag that touched the ground or was damaged without contacting the people responsible for its display. He would give a lecture of how to properly treat and display a flag whether those folks wanted one or not. To him, a desecrated flag was the ultimate display of disrespect for the thousands of Canadians (including many of his friends) who paid the ultimate price for their country.

            Those protocols mentioned above are the foundation for what my Uncle felt each time he regarded a flag. His pride in that banner was one of utmost respect knowing that every time a flag ascended a pole, it carried many burdens into the wind. He knew that our flag is a symbol of greatness, but he also knew it is encumbered by the sins and misdeeds of those who flew it under less than sanctified context. He was not unashamed of those encumbrances and painfully aware that there were things attached to the banner that were less than honorable. The flag of our country and those of many others are not sterile things. They bear witness to and are complicit in the actions of mortals. His respect for the flag was rooted in the sacrifice inherent in the defence of good, but he was not naïve enough to be unaware that evil, hate, and ignorance occurred in the shadow of that same banner. He believed that good would prevail and that when unfurled in a breeze, the flag could shed those demons if only people would atone for those misdeeds and devote themselves to the furtherance of that good and deference to its incumbent sacrifice.

            Those flags found in his closet carry his legacy and I hope they someday adorn a standard somewhere where people regard them with similar respect.

            So, as to those flags tacked to haystacks, zip-tied to manure laden livestock trailers, stapled to hockey sticks, and flown from the back of pickup trucks and tractor trailers as they race down the highway and through our neighborhoods in pseudo-patriotic display, I offer these thoughts:

            I never imagined in my lifetime when I might wince when I regarded our National Flag. I never imagined that it would stir such conflict and shame. The disrespectful manner in which it is being displayed is an affront to those principles my Uncle held dear. To tarnish the symbol with wanton disregard by ignoring all of the protocols of display is beyond disrespect, it’s a display of civic ignorance and misguided conceit. They might as well be dragging the flag through the mud and treading on its surface. To deface and defile the banner by flying it alongside other hateful and profane symbols, scribbling profane epithets on its face, and wearing it as a uniform of dissent is more than offensive. To weaponize the flag in the cause of protest rooted in ignorant, selfish, and nationalistic zeal diminishes its sanctity and disrespects all who shed blood under its shadow.

            Those people who's blood tints the red on our Flag knew about Freedom. They bore witness to unspeakable horrors perpetrated by monstrous tyrants infected with the worst kind of hatred. Their blood was shed to stop the spread of that hatred and secure the cause of Freedom for those under hatred's burden. More than one nation regards the Maple Leaf as a symbol of Liberation from oppression and hate. It is that symbolism that is the reason we should celebrate our Patriotism with the respect and humility that spilled blood deserves. To compare anything that we're experiencing in Canadian society today as equivalent to the atrocities our Flag has witnessed scarcely three generations ago is blatantly profane.

            In the end, I still regard the Flag with as much respect as I can. I cringe when the Flag is being flown or displayed in vain. I still respect the symbol, but I regard the bearer of that flag with disdain at worst and pity at best. Pity because they just don't know what they're doing. They're displaying their civic illiteracy and wanton disregard for the Flag's sanctity. They claim patriotism when they display nationalism. They claim oppression while demonstrating the very freedoms spilled blood has given them. Their trifling bleating offends those ghosts clinging to those flags. Yes, pity. And yes, disdain. Because what those people are doing is eroding the foundations of our democratic society all the while claiming they're rescuing it. All the while chipping away at the underpinnings using a flag on a hockey stick to do the digging. I cringe but those honored souls wail.

            We're certainly free to fly the National Flag. For that privilege we need to remember those who granted it to us. Our flag is a sacred thing and what we're seeing now is sacrilege. If that makes you uncomfortable, so be it. You're free to criticize me and for that too you should be thankful.

            I salute the Flag, the Emblem of my Country, and to Canada I pledge my Love and Loyalty.