True or False? The points of the maple leaf on the Canadian flag represent the provinces and territories.
In the years since the adoption of the current Canadian flag, many claim that the number of points (11) on the maple leaf it features, have special significance, such as representing each of the Canadian provinces and territories (one for each of the provinces, and one for the territories), or that it represents ten provinces and one country, or Canada’s eleven governments (ten provincial and one federal). However, none of the claims are true.
The design that was selected as the Flag Committee’s recommendation, isn’t quite the design that was ultimately adopted, for it bore a maple leaf with thirteen points. The fact that the final version ended up as an eleven-point leaf was far more by accident than intention.
Hastily silk-screened, the original prototype was hoisted up the flagpole at 24 Sussex Drive to greet Prime Minister and Mrs. Pearson with their breakfast. But, there was something wrong with the design. To figure out exactly what the problem was, and how to fix it, the committee met that evening at Reid’s headquarters.
“Do you think maybe it’s too busy at the base?” Reid asked. “What would happen, for example, if you took away two of the four points?” Saint-Cyr quickly modified his design, and within an hour, they had a design all the men approved of. They took the refined design to the silk-screen shop late that night, and the first eleven point designs were produced. Prime Minister Lester Pearson gave the new flag his blessing, and Cabinet endorsed the design soon after.
