Petition asking Ontario government to update provincial flag gains support online
Posted Aug 6, 2021 09:38:13 PM.
A petition is gaining traction online for raising concerns with the symbols featured on the Ontario flag.
It is asking the province to replace the flag with something that is more inclusive and representative of Ontario's population today.
The Ontario flag currently features the Union Jack, which pays tribute to the province's British heritage. It also features the Cross of St. George, who is known as the patron saint of England.
The flag was created in 1965 as a statement against the federal government for creating what we know today as the red and white, maple leaf Canadian flag.
Organizer of the petition, Mano Majumdar told The Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS there are many routes Ontario could take in redesigning the provincial flag.
“It would be interesting for all the provincial Canadian provincial flags to develop some sort of theme or reference to each other. I think flowers may be the way to go. Saskatchewan has the prairie lily. Perhaps Ontario will go for the trillium. If I had to bet money on it — I think if Ontario had to choose a new flag, the trillium would be there at the end.”
Majumdar said he was inspired to create the petition by the discussion happening across the province about reconciliation, inclusion and decolonization.
“At the same time, I knew about the flag, I was seeing the flag and it didn't align for me. I guess you could say it was partly an effort to resolve the dissonance in what we believe in and what we say we support, versus the symbols we choose for ourselves.”
