The royal standards of Canada are a set of uniquely Canadian personal flags used by members of the

Canadian royal family The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the founda ...

. They are used to denote the presence of the bearer within any car, ship, airplane, building, or area, within Canada or when representing Canada abroad. There are currently six personal

royal standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, and ...

s, one each for the late Queen Elizabeth II, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been se ...

, the Duke of York, and the

Earl of Wessex Earl of Wessex is a title that has been created twice in British history – once in the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility of England, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In the 6th century AD the region of Wessex (the lands of the We ...

, as well as one standard for use more generally to denote the presence of any member of the royal family who has not previously been provided with a specific personal standard. The flags are part of a larger collection of Canadian royal symbols.

Members of the royal family

There are currently five variants of the sovereign's royal standard, each of which were approved by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

by letters patent for a specific member of Canada's royal family: Prince

William, Prince of Wales William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was edu ...

; Princess Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. The sixth variant is used by any other member of the royal family who has not been presented by the Crown with a personal Canadian standard. All were created by the

Canadian Heraldic Authority The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA; french: Autorité héraldique du Canada) is part of the Canadian honours system under the Canadian monarch, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General of Canada. The authority is responsible for t ...

, the first two, other than Queen Elizabeth II's, being the banners for Prince Charles (now Prince William), Prince of Wales, and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. These were developed over a three-month period and revealed 29 June 2011, just prior to that year's royal tour by the Duke of Cambridge; his flag at the time was first flown from the cockpit window of the Canadian Forces airplane that carried him and

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

, to Canada in 2011, as it taxied after landing at Ottawa. Prince Charles' flag was first unfurled 20 May 2012 at

CFB Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. Construction of the base At the ...

, from the cockpit window of the taxiing

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

airplane that brought him and

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the ac ...

, to Canada for royal tour marking the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Princess Royal's banner was first used during her October 2013 visits to

CFB Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, C ...

and

CFB Kingston Canadian Forces Base Kingston (also CFB Kingston) is a Canadian Forces Base operated by the Canadian Army located in Kingston, Ontario. History The Barriefield Military Camp, commonly called Camp Barriefield, was established as a military ba ...

. Prince Edward's standard was first used during his visit to British Columbia's Government House at the start of a royal tour by him and his wife, on 12 September 2014. The ermine bordered royal standard was registered 15 January 2015 for use by members of the royal family who do not have a personal standard for use in Canada. All variants are in a 1:2 proportion. The personal standards consist of the escutcheon of the Royal Arms of Canada defaced with both a blue roundel surrounded by a wreath and a white

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

of three points. The wreath on Prince William's banner is of 24 gold maple leaves, the roundel depicts the

Prince of Wales' feathers The Prince of Wales's feathers is the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales, during the use of the title by the English and later British monarchy. It consists of three white ostrich feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coron ...

, and the label is not charged, signifying the eldest son of the monarch. The remainder of the banners have wreaths of 24 gold maple leaves only. On the royal standard of the Princess Royal, the roundel bears Anne's cypher (an ''A'' surmounted by a coronet of her rank, a child of the monarch) and the label is charged with a red heart at centre and the other two with red crosses, taken from the Princess' coat of arms. The roundel on the royal standard of the Duke of York bears Andrew's cypher (an ''A'' surmounted by a coronet of his rank, a child of the monarch) and the centre label is charged with a blue anchor, taken from the Prince's coat of arms. The Earl of Wessex's standard uses the cypher of Edward (an ''E'' surmounted by a coronet of his rank, a child of the monarch) on the roundel and has within the centre label a

Tudor Rose The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor rose consists o ...

. File:Royal Standard of the Prince of Wales (in Canada).svg, The Prince of Wales File:Royal Standard of Princess Anne, Princess Royal (in Canada).svg, Princess Anne, Princess Royal File:Royal Standard of Prince Andrew, Duke of York (in Canada).svg, Prince Andrew, Duke of York File:Royal Standard of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (in Canada).svg, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex File:Royal Standard of members of the Canadian Royal Family.svg, Other members of the Royal Family

Former standards

The royal standard, also called ''The Queen's Personal Canadian Flag'', was a heraldic banner adopted and proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II in 1962 for her use in her capacity as

Queen of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...

. With its introduction, red and white, first proclaimed by George V in 1921, became entrenched as the

national colours of Canada The national colours of Canada (french: Couleurs nationales du Canada) were declared by King George V in 1921 to be red and white and are most prominently evident on the country's national flag. Red is symbolic of England and white of France, the ...

, and it was added to the

's Public Register of Arms, Flags, and Badges on 15 March 2005. Different standards were used by Elizabeth in some of the other Commonwealth realms, and she held another banner for use as

Head of the Commonwealth The head of the Commonwealth is the ceremonial leader who symbolises "the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation that currently comprises 56 sovereign states. There is ...

. The flag, in a 1:2 proportion, consists of the escutcheon of the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada in banner form defaced with the distinct device of Queen Elizabeth II used on her Head of the Commonwealth flag: a blue

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of diff ...

with the initial ''E'' surmounted by

St Edward's Crown St Edward's Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th cen ...

and within a wreath of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s, all gold-coloured. The standard is protected under the

Trade-marks Act Canadian trademark law provides protection to marks by statute under the ''Trademarks Act'' and also at common law. Trademark law provides protection for distinctive marks, certification marks, distinguishing guises, and proposed marks against tho ...

; section 9(a) states: "No person shall adopt in connection with a business, as a trade-mark or otherwise, any mark consisting of, or so nearly resembling as to be likely to be mistaken for... the Royal Arms, Crest, or Standard." The symbols on the flag represent the nations that colonized Canada, which are

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(

Royal Arms of England The royal arms of England are the arms first adopted in a fixed form at the start of the age of heraldry (circa 1200) as personal arms by the Plantagenet kings who ruled England from 1154. In the popular mind they have come to symbolise the ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

( Royal Banner of Scotland),

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

(

coat of arms of Ireland ) , supporters = , compartment = , motto = , orders = , other_elements = , earlier_versions = , use = The harp is used on all Acts of Oireachtas; the seal of the President; the cover of Iri ...

) and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(a symbol of Early modern France), alongside the national symbol (

maple leaf 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 ...

). Before he was made Prince of Wales in 2022, William's flag had a wreath of each 12 gold maple leaves and scallop shells, the roundel bore a depiction of his cypher (a ''W'' surmounted by a

coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara doe ...

of his rank), and the label was charged with a red shell, reminiscent of the coat of arms of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. File:Royal standard of Canada (1962–2022).svg , Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, 1962 to 2022 File:Royal Standard of Prince William in Canada (2011–2022).svg, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, 2011 to 2022

Use and protocol

Princess Elizabeth holding flowers on stage with Prince Philip and several people

Prior to the adoption of the Canadian royal standards, members of the royal family who toured Canada used the royal standard they employed when in the United Kingdom; after 1931, each of those standards took on a dual role of representing a member of either the British or the Canadian royal family, depending on the context. Only during a 2009 tour by Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, did the Prince of Wales use the British standard for members of the Royal Family who are not entitled to a personal standard of their own, rather than the standard used by the Prince of Wales for England and Wales. The King's personal Canadian flag is employed only when the King is in

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 tot ...

or is attending an event abroad as the Canadian

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

; for example, the flag will be unfurled at Juno Beach in

when the King is present there for commemorations of the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. The flag must be broken immediately upon the sovereign's arrival and lowered directly after his departure from any building, ship, aircraft, or other space or vehicle. On land, as per Department of National Defence protocol, the King's standard must be flown from a

flagpole A flagpole, flagmast, flagstaff, or staff is a pole designed to support a flag. If it is taller than can be easily reached to raise the flag, a cord is used, looping around a pulley at the top of the pole with the ends tied at the bottom. The fla ...

bearing as a pike head the crest of the Canadian royal arms. As the monarch is the personification of the Canadian state, his banner also takes precedence above all other flags in Canada, including the national flag and those of the other members of the

. No other person may use the flag; the King's federal representative, the

governor general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

, possesses a unique personal flag, as does each of the monarch's provincial viceroys. Flags are kept at the King's Ottawa residence,

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and their representative, the governor general of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main b ...

, and supplied to

Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (french: Patrimoine canadien), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity ...

royal visit staff by the household staff prior to the King's arrival. Protocol is sometimes, though rarely, officially broken. On 9 August 1902, the day of the coronation of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, the monarch's royal standard (then the same in Canada as in the United Kingdom) was raised on a temporary flag pole at His Majesty's Dockyard in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Similarly, for the

coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

on 2 June 1953, the sovereign's royal standard was broken atop the

Peace Tower The Peace Tower (french: link=no, Tour de la Paix) is a focal bell and clock tower sitting on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. The present incarnation replaced the Victoria Towe ...

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their archit ...

in Ottawa. Sixty years later, on 6 February 2012, the Queen's personal standard for Canada was unfurled at Rideau Hall and Parliament Hill, as well as at other legislatures across the country to mark the monarch's diamond anniversary of her accession to the throne; permission to do so was granted by the Queen. When Police Service Horse Burmese was presented to Queen Elizabeth II by the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

on 28 April 1969, Her Majesty requested that Burmese perform in the

Royal Windsor Horse Show The Royal Windsor Horse Show is a horse show held annually since 1943 for five days in May or June in Windsor Home Park.

and have the rider carry the Queen's royal standard on the lance, instead of the usual red and white pennon, thus allowing Elizabeth to easily follow Burmese's performance.

Coronation standard

During the coronation ceremony of the monarch at Westminster Abbey, the "standards" of various countries are carried by various officials in the procession inside the abbey. These flags are the country's coat of arms as a

banner of arms A banner of arms is a type of heraldic flag which has the same image as a coat of arms, ''i.e.'' the shield of a full heraldic achievement, rendered in a square or rectangular shape of the flag. The term is derived from the terminology of hera ...

. For Canada, similar standards based on the previous coat of arms were used thrice: at the coronations of

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 Qu ...

, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II in 1911, 1937, and 1953, respectively. The banner of the coat of arms of the first four Canadian provinces was used in 1911, with the banner of the 1921-1957 version of the arms used in 1937 and 1953. The banner was in a 3:4 ratio and without defacement. File:1911 Canada Coronation Standard.svg, Coronation standard used in 1911 File:1937 and 1953 Coronation Standard of Canada.svg, Coronation Standard used in 1937 and 1953

References

External links