Vans and supporters journey down Toronto's Bloor Road throughout an indication in assist of the "freedom convoy." THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Symbols matter to Canadians. As Canadian society has developed, so too have the symbols that encourage our collective imaginations. It ought to come as no shock that the “freedom convoy” has sparked dialog with their use of Canadian symbology.
There are Canadian flags (proper aspect up and the wrong way up), Donald Trump flags and provincial flags alongside recognized hate symbols — Accomplice flags and swastikas — on the streets of cities and at border crossings throughout the nation.
Their use of symbols is puzzling. Displaying insignia that stands in contradiction to the Canadian notion of freedom alongside the Canadian flag creates challenges in understanding the motion’s message.
Is the co-opting of Canadian symbols shaping a collective sentiment about how they’re considered? And the way did Canada land on these symbols within the first place?
The Canadian flag
An necessary level price elevating is that the flag protesters are waving about is a comparatively younger flag. It was designed and adopted in 1965, after 1964’s Nice Flag Debate. On the time, Canada was going by a nationwide identification disaster.
A brand new flag had been many years within the making. It was seen as a controversial transfer, reflecting an absence of political will to exchange the Union Jack or the Canadian Crimson Ensign, each of which had served Canada through the years.
It was so controversial that earlier prime ministers had postponed the problem of choosing a brand new flag for Canada on a number of events. Even when the committee met to pick out the profitable design, the problem was hotly contested till it was ultimately resolved to fulfill the looming deadline of Canada’s 1967 centenary celebrations.
When the flag was raised on Parliament Hill for the primary time, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson learn: “Might the land over which this new flag flies stay united in freedom and justice … delicate, tolerant and compassionate in the direction of all.”
This new flag was designed to articulate Canada as a sovereign nation, not bearing the heraldry of a colonial previous.
Inclusive and unified
The flag’s message about Canada as an inclusive, unified and simply house has been debated since then — arguably extra successfully than in Ottawa these previous two weeks.
For a lot of Indigenous Peoples, the symbolism of the Canadian flag is manifestly incommensurate with their colonial expertise, a message that has been repeatedly contested by the event of flags of resistance and various imagery — just like the Warrior Flag flown by members of the Kanien’kehà:ka neighborhood in the course of the Oka Disaster.
But the Canadian flag, in one other context, may very well be seen as reflecting reconciliation — flown at half-mast nationwide in remembrance of the youngsters misplaced in residential colleges. On this case, the nationwide flag was used exactly due to its significance as an emblem of unity.
Farmers and different supporters of the ‘freedom convoy’ rally on Freeway 402 in Sarnia, Ont., closing off the Bluewater Bridge border crossing to U.S.-bound site visitors.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins
In distinction, the convoy’s efforts to applicable nationwide symbols and the Canadian creativeness have confirmed ineffective.
Whereas the jumbled host of flags utilized by this group is supposed to mirror real grassroots spontaneity and a comparatively small, although united and vocal presence, its impact is simply the other. The efforts seem as incoherent because the set of symbols they’ve chosen to deploy in its trigger.
The motion in its early days appeared seeking symbols. Parliament buildings, monuments and commemorative statues have been all focused. A part of the mission included draping the statue of nationwide hero Terry Fox – who spent his final moments on earth drawing consideration to the important position of scientific and well being analysis — with paraphernalia in assist of their trigger.
Does the flag unite Canadians?
Has the flag outlived its particular use and meant particular political illustration? Or will it’s now seen as an emblem which has outlived its usefulness?
Will increasingly Canadians turn into more and more uncomfortable with its symbolic content material after such public demonstrations and its affiliation with such a poisonous model of nationalism?
Questioning if the beforehand inoffensive symbolism of the maple leaf flag will stay unscathed isn’t so far-fetched. Can anyone image go well with the needs of each those that implement and problem state legal guidelines and rules equally?
It’s exhausting to know whether or not to be morally outraged on the trivialization of the hard-won freedoms that the “freedom convoy” has perpetuated, or just dumbfounded by the sheer nonchalance of the protesters selection of symbolism. For many Canadians, I think that it’s a little of each.
Within the Faculty for the Research of Canada at Trent College, students delve into important examinations throughout a spread of themes — atmosphere, nationalism, sovereignty, Indigeneity, variety and immigration — exploring the Canadian identification and Canada’s position on the earth as we speak. This consists of exploring how present points, together with the “freedom convoy”, are perceived by Canadians and other people all over the world.
The flag Canada first raised in 1965 was an emblem used to unite Canadians as a shared nation — an thrilling new image that Canadians have been pleased with.
Feb. 15 marks Flag Day in Canada, and so maybe this can be a good time to ask ourselves if that is nonetheless true? Does the flag unite Canadians, or confuse them as its symbolism is used to totally different ends and causes? Can any image actually communicate for all of us?
Maybe what’s going to come of this second in Canadian historical past is a brand new set of symbols, arguably not excellent and never uncontested, however reflective of our instances.
Heather Nicol doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or organisation that may profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their tutorial appointment.