Flag of Saskatoon

Last updated
Flag of Saskatoon
Flag of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.gif
Proportion1:2
Adopted1952
DesignThe coat of arms in a white disk with, at its left, a Saskatoon berry in a green background and at its right, 13 white and yellow stripes.
Designed byDeck Whitehead

The flag of Saskatoon is the banner representing the city of Saskatoon and consists of a branch of Saskatoon berries on a green backrground on the left, with seven yellow stripes, white alternating, on the right. The Saskatoon crest is imposed on the stripes. [1]

Contents

The idea of a flag was proposed by the committee handling the 70th anniversairy celebrations of Saskatoon. Deck Whitehead's design ended up being selected but after the celebrations, was forgotten. In 1966, fourteen years later, Saskatoon were looking for a flag to celebrate its 60th birthday. A citizen reminded the then mayor Whitehead's design with a letter.

Design

The design is based on the city colours and the thirteen stripes based on the flag of the United States. The seven yellow stripes represent each district: North Park, City Park, Mayfair, Caswell Hill, Pleasent Hill, Nutana and City Centre. [2] The Saskatoon berry is one of the symbols of the city of Saskatoon and how the city got its name.

Coat of arms Ca-sk-sa).gif
Coat of arms

The coat of arms is divided in two parts: the lower being gold and the upper green. The green represents the growing crops and the gold evokes the harvest. The open book is taken from the coat of arms of the University of Saskatchewan and represents the connection between the academic seats and Saskatoon. The cogged silver wheel with wheat symbolizes the industry primarily agricultural. The eight lines coming from a hub evokes the importance of Saskatoon as a railway and distributing place. The bezant encircled by the hub indicates the importance comercially of Saskatoon. [3]

History

A flag of Saskatoon at the John G. Diefenbaker International Airport in Saskatoon with the flag of Canada and Saskatchewan. AirportWelcomeSignWithFlags.jpg
A flag of Saskatoon at the John G. Diefenbaker International Airport in Saskatoon with the flag of Canada and Saskatchewan.

The idea of a flag was proposed by the committee handling the 70th anniversairy celebrations of Saskatoon. Two designs were sumbitted, both containing the yellow and green present in the city's coat of arms and a Saskatoon berry motif in purple. The staff side of each were about a quarter of the total length, and were of a solid green. The remaining portion of one was solid yellow whilst the other one was of a yellow and white stripes. The coat of arms of both were a junction of the green-yellow blocks. The Saskatoon berry is superimposed on a yellow background and on the other the berries are on a green background. [4] The latter (Deck Whitehead's design) ended up being selected. After the celebrations in 1952 however, it was forgotten and filed away. Fourteen years later, in 1966, Saskatoon were looking for a banner to celebrate the 60th anniversairy of the city's incorporation. [5] A citizen reminded, by the writing of a letter, Dickhead's design to the then-mayor of Saskatoon Ernest Cole. [6] The city took the design and used it to create the city flag, which was first raised at City Hall in 1966 to open the Saskatoon tourist season. [7] The flag nor the coat of arms were registered and no record for why such decision was chosen has been recorded. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Kiribati</span>

The flag of Kiribati is red in the upper half with a gold frigatebird flying over a gold rising sun (otintaai), and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean and the three archipelagoes. The 17 rays of the sun represent the 16 Gilbert Islands and Banaba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Suriname</span> National flag

The flag of Suriname was legally adopted on 25 November 1975, upon the independence of Suriname from the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Romania</span>

The national flag of Romania is a tricolour featuring three equal vertical bands colored blue, yellow and red, with a width to length ratio of 2:3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Malaysia</span>

The national flag of Malaysia, also known as the Stripes of Glory, is composed of a field of 14 alternating red and white stripes along the fly and a blue canton bearing a crescent and a 14-point star known as the Bintang Persekutuan. The 14 stripes, of equal width, represent the equal status in the federation of the 13 member states and the federal territories, while the 14 points of the star represent the unity among these entities. The crescent represents Islam, the country's state religion; the blue canton symbolises the unity of the Malaysian people; the yellow of the star and crescent is the royal colour of the Malay rulers, the red stripes represent bravery and the white stripes represent purity. It is in the stars and stripes family of flags.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Angola</span>

The national flag of Angola came into use when the nation gained independence from Portugal on 11 November 1975. It is split horizontally into an upper red half and a lower black half with an emblem resting at the center. It features a yellow half gear wheel crossed by a machete and crowned with a star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Bolivia</span> National flag

The national flag of the Plurinational State of Bolivia was originally adopted in 1851. The state and war flag is a horizontal tricolor of red, yellow and green with the Bolivian coat of arms in the center. According to one source, the red stands for Bolivia's brave soldiers, while the green symbolizes fertility and yellow the nation's mineral deposits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Ecuador</span> National flag

The national flag of Ecuador, which consists of horizontal bands of yellow, blue and red, was first adopted by law in 1835 and later on 26 September 1860. The design of the current flag was finalized in 1900 with the addition of the coat of arms in the center of the flag. Before using the yellow, blue and red tricolor, Ecuador's former flag had three light blue stripes and two white stripes with three white stars for each province of the country. The design of the flag is very similar to those of Colombia and Venezuela, which are also former constituent territories of Gran Colombia. All three are based on a proposal by Venezuelan General Francisco de Miranda, which was adopted by Venezuela in 1811 and later Gran Colombia with some modifications. There is a variant of the flag that does not contain the coat of arms that is used by the merchant marine. This flag matches Colombia's in every aspect, but Colombia uses a different design when her merchant marine ships are at sail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Zimbabwe</span> National flag

The national flag of Zimbabwe consists of seven even horizontal stripes of green, gold, red and black with a white triangle containing a red five-pointed star with a Zimbabwe Bird. The present design was adopted on 18 April 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Spain</span>

The flag of Spain, as it is defined in the Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the height of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle stripe was defined by the more archaic term of gualda, and hence the popular name la Rojigualda (red-weld).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Venezuela</span>

The current national flag of Venezuela was introduced in 2006. The basic design includes a horizontal tricolour of yellow, blue, and red, dating to the original flag introduced in 1811, in the Venezuelan War of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Vermont</span>

The state flag of Vermont displays the state's coat of arms and motto on a rectangular blue background. The Vermont General Assembly adopted the flag on June 1, 1923.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland</span>

Each of the 26 modern cantons of Switzerland has an official flag and a coat of arms. The history of development of these designs spans the 13th to the 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military colours, standards and guidons</span> Flags, coats of arms, and other signals used to aid in military navigation

In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 years ago. The Roman Empire also made battle standards reading SPQR a part of their vast armies. It was formalized in the armies of Europe in the High Middle Ages, with standards being emblazoned with the commander's coat of arms.

In British heraldry, vert is the tincture equivalent to green. It is one of the five dark tinctures called colours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National symbols of Colombia</span>

The National symbols of Colombia are the symbols which represent the national identity of the Republic of Colombia as a sovereign state. The national symbols intend to represent the Colombian identity by creating visual, verbal cultural iconic representations of the national people, values, goals, and history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of the president of the United States</span> Flag used by U.S. presidents

The flag of the president of the United States consists of the presidential coat of arms on a dark blue background. While having the same design as the presidential seal since 1945, the flag has a separate history, and the designs on the flag and seal have at different times influenced each other. The flag is often displayed by the president in official photos, or flown next to the casket of a former president in official funeral processions, and flown on the president's motorcade. The flag is not flown at half-staff since there is always an incumbent president in office. The current flag is defined in Executive Order 10860:

The Color and Flag of the President of the United States shall consist of a dark blue rectangular background of sizes and proportions to conform to military and naval custom, on which shall appear the Coat of Arms of the President in proper colors. The proportions of the elements of the Coat of Arms shall be in direct relation to the hoist, and the fly shall vary according to the customs of the military and naval services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Columbus, Ohio</span>

The current city flag of Columbus, Ohio is a yellow-white-red vertical triband with the city seal on a blue field. Officially, the flag was adopted in 1929, although it is unknown if the flag was ever flown when it was first adopted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coat of arms of Saskatoon</span>

The coat of arms of Saskatoon is the heraldic symbol representing the city of Saskatoon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Regina</span> Regina Flag

The flag of Regina is the banner representing the city of Regina. The flag is composed of a horizontal bicolour of yellow and blue accompanied by a crown in top left corner. It was presented to the city on September 14, 1992, by the Governor General at the time. Prior to 1992, it was purple. That flag had a royal connection reflecting the city's royal roots. However, the flag was unofficial.

References

  1. "City flag unveiled". The Star Phoenix . May 17, 1966. p. 6. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  2. "Flag Design Adopted by Council". The StarPhoenix . 1976. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  3. "Municipal Manual 2023" (PDF). City of Saskatoon. 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  4. "Design for Flag To Be Considered". The StarPhoenix . June 19, 1952. p. 4. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  5. Levy, Bryn (March 18, 2022). "A brief history of municipal flags flying proudly in Sask. cities". The StarPhoenix . Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  6. "Long-last flag design uncovered". The StarPhoenix . March 4, 1966. p. 3. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  7. Bridges, Alicia (September 7, 2016). "Saskatoon has a city flag, but is it a good one?". CBC News . Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  8. Levy, Bryn (March 13, 2024). "Saskatoon councillors get revised arena budget timeline". The StarPhoenix . Retrieved October 5, 2024.