Some Canadians reconsidering meaning of nation’s flag

What does our nation’s flag mean to you?

It’s one of our nation’s proudest symbols, but its meaning can be highly individual. After a year that saw anti-vaccine mandate protests covered in the flag, some Canadians are re-thinking what the maple leaf means.

“It is something that is a rallying cry, but it has connotations — both negative and positive. There is pride in some way, that’s why they call themselves patriots. But what they’re patriots of is something that does not necessarily exist, something they feel is being taken away from them. So in many ways, they’re not fighting for something, they’re fighting against something,” explained Carmen Celestini, a lecturer at Waterloo University, referring to the protesters.

Celestini, who has written on Canadians re-evaluating the feelings sparked by the flag, says upside-down flags first appeared during the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential school sites. In that way, Celestini says both progressives and reactionaries are now reckoning with disillusionment with what they believe Canada’s flag means.

“That is a conversation that we need to have. Unfortunately between everything that has happened in the last few years, none of us have sat down and had that conversation. We haven’t had it with our media, we haven’t had it with our government, we haven’t had it with our neighbours.”

Ottawans walking around the capital’s downtown core just days before anti-vaccine mandate protests are expected to return to town say they’re looking at the maple leaf in a new way. But not just because of those protests.

“For the last 49 years, I’ve been a very proud Canadian but in the last year and a half, two years, I’ve been finding out more and more things our government’s been hiding from us,” said one Ottawa resident CityNews spoke with.

“I think for the last few months and the year we’ve had and previous year as well, it has definitely changed to a more negative light because of all the Indigenous graves we have uncovered and as well because of the freedom convoy. But I think if we work all together it’s something we can change to a more brighter light,” said another person.