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The national colours of Canada (french: Couleurs nationales du Canada) were declared by King
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother ...
in 1921 to be red and white and are most prominently evident on the country's national flag. Red is
symbolic Symbolic may refer to: * Symbol, something that represents an idea, a process, or a physical entity Mathematics, logic, and computing * Symbolic computation, a scientific area concerned with computing with mathematical formulas * Symbolic dynam ...
of England and white of France, the colours having been used representatively by those countries in the past. The
maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...
is one of the
national symbols A national symbol is a symbol of any entity considering and manifesting itself to the world as a national community: the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or even an e ...
and red is the first leaf colour after spring budding & also the autumn colour of
maple leaves The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along th ...
.


History

Canada's national colours can trace their history to the
First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...
of the 11th century, during which Norman nobleman
Bohemond I of Antioch Bohemond I of Antioch (5 or 7 March 1111), also known as Bohemond of Taranto, was the prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 and the prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, leading a contingent of Normans on the ...
distributed red crosses to the crusaders he led, so that they could affix them to their clothing "as a distinguishing mark". Thereafter, nations were identified by the colour of their cross, and in particular, England used a white cross on a red background and France a red cross on white. Eventually, France and England agreed to exchange their colours, and
St George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross, the Cross of Saint George, is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with the cru ...
was adopted as an emblem of England. This was the flag used by
John Cabot John Cabot ( it, Giovanni Caboto ; 1450 – 1500) was an Italian navigator and explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England is the earliest-known European exploration of coastal Nor ...
when he landed on the island of
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
on his second voyage in 1497 under the commission of
Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...
. The two nations would eventually explore
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
, where each claimed territory. As a result of the
proclamation A proclamation (Lat. ''proclamare'', to make public by announcement) is an official declaration issued by a person of authority to make certain announcements known. Proclamations are currently used within the governing framework of some nations ...
of the
Arms of Canada The Arms of Canada (french: Armoiries du Canada, links=no), also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada (french: armoiries royales du Canada, links=no) or formally as the Arms of His Majesty the King in Right of Canada (french: Armoiries de Sa M ...
by King
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother ...
on 21 November 1921, red and white became Canada's official colours. The proclamation stated "''a Royal helmet mantled argent doubled gules''" and "''a wreath of the colours argent and gules''", in which ''
argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to ...
'' refers to the colour white or silver, and ''
gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...
'' to red,
tinctures A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemi ...
used to emblazon a
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
. In 1957, the Arms of Canada were modified—the maple leaves on the shield were changed from green to red "in recognition of Canada's official colours". The proclamation accepts both colours for the maple leaves, stating "''three maple leaves conjoined on one stem proper''", in which "proper" refers to the natural colour of the leaves, which is green in spring and summer, and red in autumn. It was not until 1961, with the creation of The Queen's Personal Canadian Flag, that red and white became entrenched as the national colours.


Reproduction

For the
Federal Identity Program The Federal Identity Program (FIP) is the Government of Canada's corporate identity program. The purpose of the FIP is to provide to the public a consistent and unified image for federal government projects and activities. Other objectives of th ...
operated by the Treasury Board Secretariat of the
Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...
, official and signage colours are specified in
technical specification A specification often refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard. There are different types of technical or engineering specificat ...
T-145. The red colour is named ''FIP red'' and represented by the hexadecimal triplet ''FF0000'', the 8-bit per channel RGB value ''(255,0,0)'', the
CMYK color The CMYK color model (also known as process color, or four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers ...
(0,100,100,0), or the Pantone Color Matching System colour Pantone 032. A second red colour, known as ''safety red'', is also specified but not used for official symbols; it is represented by the hexadecimal triplet E8112D, RGB value (230,15,45), CMYK colour (0,90,75,0), or Pantone colour 185. White is represented by CMYK colour white, and the de facto national colour black is represented as CMYK colour black; six more colours are defined for use by the government.


Uses


National flag of Canada

The
national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours a ...
uses the national colours. Its red-white-red pattern is derived from the flag of the
Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...
and the Canada General Service Medal of 1899.


Federal government branding

The national colours are used in federal government branding as part of the Federal Identity Program. This includes the use of the Canadian flag in the Canada wordmark, the "global identifier of the Government of Canada" specified in technical specification T-130.


Decorations

The
Canadian Forces Decoration The Canadian Forces' Decoration (post-nominal letters "CD") is a Canadian award bestowed upon members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have completed twelve years of military service, with certain conditions. By convention, it is also given to t ...
ribbon consists of four red bars separated by equally spaced thin white lines. The
Canada Medal The Canada Medal was an honour created in 1943 as part of an attempt to establish an indigenous honours system in Canada. It was meant to serve as the highest award that could be awarded to civilians and military personnel. The increase in deman ...
instituted on 14 October 1943 was specified to have a ribbon in the national colours, which was the same ribbon used for the Canada General Service Medal. The ill-fated medal was never awarded, and was abolished in 1966 with the introduction of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...
, which also has a red and white ribbon.


Sport

The
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
, a franchise in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
, honour
Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...
by wearing an alternate jersey instead of the team's usual
uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...
. In the 1990s, the team would wear red
baseball cap A baseball cap is a type of soft hat with a rounded crown and a stiff bill projecting in front. The front of the hat typically displays a design or a logo (historically, usually only a sports team, namely a baseball team, or names of relevant c ...
s, or a red uniform. In 2012, the team wore a red uniform with white lettering. The Canadian national colours, and the de facto third colour black, are used prominently by
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
teams representing the nation, including the men's ice hockey team, men's junior ice hockey team, men's under-18 ice hockey team, men's ice sledge hockey team, men's inline hockey team, women's ice hockey team, and women's under-18 ice hockey team. The logo of
Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...
, the national governing body for ice hockey in Canada, is red, white, and black, though their specifications are different from those of the national colours.


See also

*
Canadian royal symbols Canadian royal symbols are the visual and auditory identifiers of the Canadian monarchy, including the viceroys, in the country's federal and provincial jurisdictions. These may specifically distinguish organizations that derive their authority fr ...


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Canada's National Symbols
- excerpt from ''The Flags of Canada'' by Alistair B. Fraser {{National colours
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
National symbols of Canada