Sixty Joyless De-Britished Uncrowned Commonpoor Years (1949-2009)

Elizabeth II Vice-Regal Saint: Remembering Paul Comtois (1895–1966), Lt.-Governor of Québec
Britannic Inheritance: Britain's proud legacy. What legacy will America leave?
English Debate: Daniel Hannan revels in making mince meat of Gordon Brown
Crazy Canucks: British MP banned from Canada on national security grounds
Happy St. Patrick's: Will Ireland ever return to the Commonwealth?
Voyage Through the Commonwealth: World cruise around the faded bits of pink.
No Queen for the Green: The Green Party of Canada votes to dispense with monarchy.
"Sir Edward Kennedy": The Queen has awarded the senator an honorary Knighthood.
President Obama: Hates Britain, but is keen to meet the Queen?
The Princess Royal: Princess Anne "outstanding" in Australia.
H.M.S. Victory: In 1744, 1000 sailors went down with a cargo of gold.
Queen's Commonwealth: Britain is letting the Commonwealth die.
Justice Kirby: His support for monarchy almost lost him appointment to High Court
Royal Military Academy: Sandhurst abolishes the Apostles' Creed.
Air Marshal Alec Maisner, R.I.P. Half Polish, half German and 100% British.
Cherie Blair: Not a vain, self regarding, shallow thinking viper after all.
Harry Potter: Celebrated rich kid thinks the Royals should not be celebrated
The Royal Jelly: A new king has been coronated, and his subjects are in a merry mood
Victoria Cross: Australian TROOPER MARK DONALDSON awarded the VC
Godless Buses: Royal Navy veteran, Ron Heather, refuses to drive his bus
Labour's Class War: To expunge those with the slightest pretensions to gentility
100 Top English Novels of All Time: The Essential Fictional Library
BIG BEN: Celebrating 150 Years of the Clock Tower

Thursday 22 March 2007

Harper: "The Red Ensign of 1917 will fly over Vimy"

Veterans Affairs cited a governmental protocol that allows no other flag than the Maple Leaf to fly on federal property. The land on which the Vimy Memorial was built was donated to Canada by France. "We know where the veterans are coming from . . . but we have to follow protocol," said Janice Summerby, a spokeswoman for Veterans Affairs.

Well now, apparently not. You've got to love that Harper guy; bureaucratic protocol will just have to fly a kite on this one:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has requested the Red Ensign flag fly at Vimy Ridge ceremonies next month, The Globe and Mail has learned.

Mr. Harper told his cabinet ministers yesterday that he wanted both the Red Ensign and the Maple Leaf hoisted in Vimy, France, at the 90th anniversary of the First World War battle, sources close to the Prime Minister said.

"He said, 'The Red Ensign of 1917 will fly over Vimy,' " one source told The Globe.

The decision was hailed as a victory by veterans' groups and advocates, who have been lobbying Ottawa to have the historical ensign displayed over the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

Related: With what flag should we honour Vimy Ridge? Veterans groups want to mark anniversary with ensign under which soldiers fought.

11 comments:

The Monarchist said...

Protocol that upholds tradition is laudable. Protocol that is mercilessly antagonistic to it, is mean, inane and contemptuous.

Blackstone said...

Not a poet am I, but poetic I do feel:

http://onedominion.blogspot.com/2007/03/monarchist-harper-red-ensign-of-1917.html

mrcawp said...

Harper gets better and better!

Here's to a solid Tory majority!

Anonymous said...

Since the Red Ensign wasn't made an "official" flag until after the war in the 1920's, wouldn't a Union Jack be more appropriate?

The Monarchist said...

Vimy was a British-Canadian achievement, so you need something distinctively British-Canadian. That flag is the tattered Red Ensign (shown above), such as the one in the Imperial War Museum.

Anonymous said...

However, the unofficial Red Ensign in 1917 featured nine provincial shields, rather than the four in the Imperial War Museum flag, which is the 1867 unofficial version. And there are two versions of the 1917 ensign. One is just a shield composed of nine provincial shields, and the other has this shield surrounded by a garland of maple leaves, surmounted by a crown. But most people are familiar with the 1922 Red Ensign. Which version would fly?

mrcawp said...

What are the chances of the Red Ensign returning as Canada's official flag - once Quebec secedes?

The Monarchist said...

Quebec will never secede. A clear question on outright secession is supported by only 25-30% of the population. They can get bump this up to 40-50% on "sovereignty association", but only if Quebeckers can keep their Canadian passport and currency. Only "asymmetrical federalism" is supported by a plurality of the population, and this is where we've been going for years anyways.

mrcawp said...

Can't you kick them out? They're dragging the whole place down.

Keir said...

Having blogspot banned by the fascists here who rule China, it's great to illegally arrive at this site to see such great news.

Keir said...

By the way, I have a favour to ask of anyone who may in a position to offer technical assistance.
I've been working on a site devoted to the British ensign in all its variations worldwide, paying especial attention on the Canadian versions.
I put in quite a bit of effort saving images on the bar of my site at http://imperialflags.blogspot.com/
but now while I can add more, they cannot be moved so are forced to
remain at the top of the bar.
In other words it's as if I can add an image of the Bermuda flag but can't move it down to the 'British Dependents' heading as The Monarchist has done.
This is a problem no matter what computer I use so deleting cookies or the cache of temporary files is not a solution. I also have this
problem using Firefox and Internet Explorer.