Toronto flag | |
Use | > |
---|---|
Proportion | 1:2 |
Adopted | November 1999 |
Use | > |
Proportion | 2:3 |
Adopted | 6 November 1974 |
Relinquished | 1 January 1998 [lower-alpha 1] |
Design | A blue field and a white outline of Toronto City Hall slightly left-of-centre with a red maple leaf at the base. |
Designed by | Renato De Santis |
The city flag of Toronto, also known as the Toronto flag, [1] was adopted by Toronto City Council and was designed by Renato De Santis and includes a white outline of Toronto City Hall on a blue field, and a red maple leaf at the base of the towers.
The first flag of Toronto was adopted by the former City of Toronto in 1967 and included the city's coat of arms on a blue and white field. However, that flag was replaced by De Santis' design in 1974, a design that remained in use until 1998, when the former city was amalgamated into the new City of Toronto. A 1:2 proportioned version of De Santis' flag was adopted by the new City of Toronto in 1999.
The flag of Toronto includes a white outline of the twin towers of the Toronto City Hall slightly left-of-centre on a blue field. The red maple leaf from the Canadian flag sits at the base of the towers, representing the city council chambers. The shape of the space above and between the towers suggests the letter 'T', the city's initial. [2] The design adopted by the City of Toronto in 1999 is proportioned at 1:2, although its original design created by De Santis was proportioned at 2:3. [2]
As a municipal flag, the flag of Toronto follows the flag of Canada, the flags of other sovereign countries, and flags of provinces and territories in Canadian flag etiquette. [3]
A variation of this flag is used by Toronto Fire Services fireboats. The marine ensign consists of the city's flag in the upper canton, with a lifebuoy on a two-tone blue background.
An early flag of Toronto was designed by Eric Arthur and his son, and adopted in 1967 by the former City of Toronto. [4] [5] It featured the city's coat of arms imposed on a blue and white field. The design was criticized by the then mayor of Toronto, William Dennison. [2]
On 28 August 1974, a committee was appointed by Toronto City Council to design a new flag. A competition to design a new flag was launched later that year that was open to all residents of Metropolitan Toronto. More than 700 submissions were received, more than half of which incorporated a maple leaf. A flag design committee, headed by Robert Woadden of the City of Toronto Archives, was created to select submissions from the competition. [2]
The committee eventually submitted its selection to the city council on 6 November 1974, where its members unanimously voted for a design submitted by Renato De Santis, a 21-year-old graphic design student at George Brown College. On 7 November 1974, a flag-raising ceremony was conducted outside Toronto City Hall, where De Santis also received a prize of $500 for winning the competition. The flag used during the flag-raising was later stolen from the flagpole. [2]
In 1997, a new design competition was launched to find a new flag for the new amalgamated City of Toronto to be formed on 1 January 1998. [lower-alpha 1] The design competition in 1997 laid out more specific criteria than the competition in 1974, with designs being limited to three colours and a proportion of 1:2. The competition had a prize of $3000. However, no prize was ever awarded, with city council approving none of the 161 designs submitted they received. [2]
After the design competition, Toronto City Council asked city design staff to submit their own proposals. The council eventually selected a design recommended by councillor Brad Duguid. During the council's review of staff designs, De Santis had suggested his original design be modified to fit the 1:2 proportions desired by the city council. The two designs were put to the public during an open council meeting in November 1999, with De Santis' design being received the most favourably by the public in attendance. The council voted to adopt De Santis' modified old design by a vote of 31 to 14. [2]
From 1954 to 1998, the former city of Toronto and its surrounding municipalities formed a part of an upper-tier municipal government known as Metropolitan Toronto.
By the end of the 1970s, Metropolitan Toronto, along with its six lower-tier municipalities, had adopted regional or municipal flags to represent their respective jurisdictions. East York was the last municipality in Metropolitan Toronto to adopt a municipal flag, having adopted a design in 1978 after holding a flag design contest. [6]
The Metropolitan Toronto government eventually adopted its own flag, which consisted of the region's six-ringed emblem on the left side, representing Metropolitan Toronto's six regions centred vertically on a blue and green background. Use of the Metropolitan Toronto flag was discontinued in 1998 with the dissolution of Metropolitan Toronto and the amalgamation of its lower-tier municipalities into the new City of Toronto.
Proposals have been made to reintroduce a modified version of the Metropolitan Toronto flag as a new flag of Toronto, with its supporters claiming the design better represents the various areas amalgamated into the city. [7]
Toronto is the capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada.
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The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which were starting to urbanize rapidly after World War II. It was commonly referred to as "Metro Toronto" or "Metro".
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The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in 1965. The building is located adjacent to Nathan Phillips Square, a public square at the northwest intersection of Bay Street and Queen Street, that was designed and officially opened alongside Toronto City Hall.
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The official flag of Scarborough consisted of a stylized abstract impression of the Scarborough Bluffs and Lake Ontario in blue on the left and bottom of the flag. The background is white, with the red Maple Leaf of the Flag of Canada near the centre of the otherwise void area.
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Lieutenant-Commander Alan Brookman Beddoe, OC, OBE, HFHS, FHSC was a Canadian artist, war artist, consultant in heraldry and founder and first president of the Heraldry Society of Canada in 1965.
The Hamilton Police Service (HPS) is the police service of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, the service employed 829 sworn officers and 414 non-sworn staff, serving a population of about 570 000 residents. The service's headquarters are located at 155 King William St., Hamilton, Ontario. As of 2022, the service's budget is $183 542 539, roughly 18.5% of the City's overall budget. It is one of the oldest police forces in Ontario.
Old Toronto is the part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the boundaries of the City of Toronto prior to 1998. It was incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York County. Toronto periodically grew in size by annexing adjacent land and municipalities.
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The amalgamation of Toronto was the creation of the city limits of Toronto, Ontario, Canada after amalgamating, annexing, and merging with surrounding municipalities since the 18th century. The most recent occurrence of amalgamation was in 1998, which dissolved the federation of Metropolitan Toronto and its constituent municipalities, and created the current "megacity" of Toronto.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Toronto: