WARMINGTON: Altered Canadian flag on display at consulate in Hong Kong
Altering the Canadian flag to suit any cause or event violates the government's own rules on how the flag is to be displayed
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Somebody within the employ of the Canadian government secretly changed the Canadian flag and put it on display in a foreign office for the world to see.
Others have posted the redesigned maple leaf flags on social media too.
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The Canadian government’s website is very clear that at no time is it legal to alter the Canadian flag in any way.
“The dimensions/proportions of the National Flag of Canada have an exact ratio of 2 to 1 (twice as long as it is wide), and must not be modified,” says the government. “The National Flag of Canada should not be written on or marked in any way, nor be covered by other objects.”
And yet, in the Canadian consulate in Hong Kong, an altered Canadian flag was recently displayed in the lobby with a rainbow of colours added to the red maple leaf. One image sent to us by a person who was in the office recently on business shows the red colour usually on both ends of the flag has been replaced with purple, blue, green, yellow and orange stripes.
This is against protocol.
“Nothing should be pinned or sewn on the National Flag of Canada,” the web site clearly states.
They have violated their own requirements — and not just in a meme but in other Canadian offices which represent the country abroad.
So, what does the Prime Minister’s Office or Canadian Heritage have to say about this?
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Stay tuned. Neither has commented so far. But Global Affairs Canada says it is working on a statement.
As officials look into it, they will learn it’s not the first time this has happened in both the Hong Kong office and other Canadian consulates in Asia, including the consular office in Japan which also has shared online a similar flag to celebrate the “Kansai Rainbow Fiesta.”
A post on the X platform from 2016 shows staff standing in that same lobby doing a photo op with a similar flag that had a rainbow of colours.
“The Canadian pride flag is up at our offices the month of June to celebrate Canada’s first Pride Month,” said a Facebook post from Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao on June 2, 2016. “Take part in our Facebook challenge to share your pride with Canada and for a chance to win Canadian Ice wine.”
But the latest pictures were taken last month at the Consulate General of Canada, Hong Kong, located at the Berkshire House in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong by a Canadian who laid a complaint with staff there. Not out of any concern for celebrating whatever it was they were celebrating but at the unlawful change to the Canadian flag and what legally amounts to a “desecration” of it.
“As you walk into the front lobby, this is what greets you,” said the Canadian who was there for consular assistance. “Unbelievable.”
But this seems to be routine now.
Last month, the federal government’s @Canada social media account — with more than a million followers — showed a bastardized Canadian flag with the additional colours alongside a comment saying, “in Canada we know that diversity is our strength and we love to celebrate it,” and “this #BeingYouDay, let it be a reminder to be authentically yourself and celebrate all the things that make you, YOU!”
But it’s not us. And the Canadian flag represents all of us — not one group or one agenda. All groups and all agendas.
It’s just not legal to make this change. Laws and protocols would have to be changed by parliament to do so. It’s an interesting time to be changing the flag when Prime Minister Mark Carney and many others have been doing battle with U.S. President Donald Trump over Canadian sovereignty.
The same crowd, like Canadian-American actor Mike Myers and his “Elbows Up” campaign, who made such a noise over Trump’s 51st state rhetoric, seem to be silent about this. The red and white maple leaf flag is part of Canada’s sovereignty and uniqueness which came into being 60 years ago on Feb. 15, 1965.
That flag, as it is, means so much to so many — especially people who came to Canada from war zones or tyranny. I saw that myself when Afghan interpreter to Canadian and NATO forces Ahmad “Radar” Sidiqi arrived in Canada with his family after pure hell while facing the potential of murder, kidnapping and torture at the hands of the Taliban. He and his wife have now had a baby here and all of them are as Canadian as Canadian can be, They are proud of that flag as is.
The Canadian troops I met in Afghanistan were the same way. They were proud of that flag as it is. And would never change it.
Like not being a hyphenated Canadian, the flag is not shared with other agendas. It’s Canada first.
It’s OK to wear the Canadian flag on a sports sweater at the Olympics or on a hard hat when Carney did in an X post of a recent trip to a construction site. However, the Canadian flag is not there to change up for one’s personal tastes or promote someone’s cause or celebration.
It’s not legal to change the look, colours and design.
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