heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...

and

vexillology Vexillology ( ) is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general.Smith, Whitney. ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print. The word is a synth ...

, a Canadian pale is a centre band of a vertical triband flag (a pale in heraldry) that covers half the length of a

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design emp ...

, rather than a third as in most triband designs. This allows more space to display a central image ( common charge). The name was suggested by Sir Conrad Swan,

Rouge Dragon Pursuivant Rouge Dragon Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary is a junior officer of arms of the College of Arms, named after the red dragon of Wales. The current Rouge Dragon Pursuivant is Adam Tuck, who was appointed on 12 June 2019. The office had been vac ...

(a heraldic office in Britain), and first used 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 ...

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 ...

proclaiming the new

Canadian flag The national flag of Canada (french: le Drapeau national du Canada), often simply referred to as the Canadian flag or, unofficially, as the Maple Leaf or ' (; ), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in ...

on 28 January 1965. Properly, the term should only apply to Canadian flags, though in general use the term is also used to describe non-Canadian flags that have similar proportions. The classic Canadian pale is a square central panel occupying half of a flag with 1:2 proportions. However, vexillological usage applies it to any central band that is half the width of the flag, even if this renders it non-square. The term Canadian pale is also used for flags which do not originate in Canada. The 3:5 proposed flag of Taiwan and the 7:11

flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines The flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a Canadian pale triband consisting of blue, gold, and green bands charged with three green diamonds at the centre. Adopted in 1985 to replace a similar design used from the time of independence ...

are both described as having a Canadian pale. The Canadian pale is a popular feature of sub-national and municipal flags from Canada developed after 1965. A few examples can be found in the flag of the Northwest Territories and the flag of Yukon, and of the cities of

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

;

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry and is Ontario's easternmost city. ...

;

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

; and Burlington, Ontario. The term is sometimes used in an even looser sense to refer to any flag with a larger central panel, irrespective of whether or not it covers half the flag. By this looser description, the flag of Norfolk Island (stripes in a ratio of 7:9:7) and the

flag of Iowa The flag of the state of Iowa is a vertical tricolor flag designed by Mrs. Dixie Cornell Gebhardt in 1917. Iowa legislators officially adopted the flag in 1921. History The State of Iowa did not have a banner for the first 75 years of its co ...

(ratio legally undefined, but usually the central stripe is less than twice that of the outer stripes) are sometimes considered to have a Canadian pale. By analogy, any flag which has a central ''horizontal'' stripe that is half the height of the flag is sometimes said to have a

Spanish fess In heraldry and vexillology, a Spanish fess is a term occasionally used to describe the central horizontal stripe of a tricolour or triband flag that is twice the width of the stripes on either side of it. The name is based on the most well-know ...

Heraldry

In coats of arms, and

in general, a 'Canadian pale' is what might well be referred to in South African heraldry as a 'broad pale' as its width is half that of the shield on which it is shown as opposed to the ordinary pale's third to a quarter. They are most commonly used in

Canadian heraldry Canadian heraldry is the cultural tradition and style of coats of arms and other heraldic achievements in both modern and historic Canada. It includes National coat of arms, national, provincial, and civic arms, nobility, noble and personal arms, ...

Flag gallery

Flag of the Northwest Territories.svg, Flag of the Northwest Territories, Canada Flag of Yukon.svg, Flag of Yukon, Canada Flag of Amherstburg, Canada.svg, Flag of Amherstburg, Ontario Flag of Cornwall, Ontario (granted).svg, Granted Flag of Cornwall, Ontario, Canada Flag of Hamilton.svg,

Flag of Hamilton, Ontario The flag of Hamilton was designed by Bishop Ralph Spence and granted to the city on July 15, 2003. The flag was specially designed to complement the Canadian flag being a triband with a Canadian pale at centre. The colours are yellow and roy ...

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 tota ...

Matimekush Lac John Band %28Innu-Montagnais_Nation%29%2C_Quebec.gif, Flag of the

Innu The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period (French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the n ...

(Matimekush Lac John Band),

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, Canada Flag of Grise Fiord, Nunavut.svg, Flag of

Grise Fiord Grise Fiord (; iu, ᐊᐅᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ, translit=Aujuittuq, lit=place that never thaws, italics=no) is an Inuit hamlet on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of three populated places on ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

, Canada Musqueam flag.svg, Flag of the Musqueam people File:Flag of Bohol Province, Philippines.svg, Flag of Bohol, Philippines File:Flag of Iowa.svg, Flag of Iowa, United States File:Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg,

Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines The flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a Canadian pale triband consisting of blue, gold, and green bands charged with three green diamonds at the centre. Adopted in 1985 to replace a similar design used from the time of independence ...

File:Flag of La Gomera.svg, Flag of the island of

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Ten ...

(

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) File:Flag of Myrhorod.svg, Flag of Myrhorod,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

File:Flag of Putrajaya.svg, Flag of Putrajaya,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

File:Flag of Taiwan proposed 1996.svg, Proposed 1996 Liu flag of Taiwan File:Keski-Pohjanmaa.lippu.svg, Flag of

Central Ostrobothnia Central Ostrobothnia ( fi, Keski-Pohjanmaa; sv, Mellersta Österbotten) is a region in Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Central Finland and South Ostrobothnia. Historical provinces Municipalities ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

File:Flag of Mississippi.svg,

Flag of Mississippi The flag of Mississippi, also known as the Mississippi flag, consists of a white magnolia blossom surrounded by 21 white stars and the words ' In God We Trust' written below, all put over a blue Canadian pale with two vertical gold borders on ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

File:POL powiat malborski flag.svg, Flag of

Malbork County __NOTOC__ Malbork County ( pl, powiat malborski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ref ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

File:Flag of Columbus, Ohio.svg, Flag of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

File:POL województwo podkarpackie flag.svg, Flag of

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it is ...

File:Ash Nallawalla's Proposal (1998 Australian Flag Proposal).svg, Ash Nallawalla's 1998 Australian flag proposal File:Ropažu novada karogs.svg, alt=, Flag of

Ropaži Municipality Ropaži Municipality ( lv, Ropažu novads) is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2005 with the reorganization of Ropaži parish. The administrative centre is Ropaži. The population in 2020 was 6,835. On 1 July 20 ...

, Latvia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Pale * Flags of Canada Heraldic ordinaries Flags by design