[ 15 February 1965 ]

On 28 January 1965, Queen Elizabeth II issued a proclamation, to take effect on 15 February 1965, that the National Flag of Canada was to be:

a red flag of the proportions two by length and one by width, containing in its centre a white square the width of the flag, bearing a single maple leaf, or, in heraldic terms, described as gules on a Canadian pale argent a maple leaf of the first.

On that date on Parliament Hill before a large crowd on a damp and cold day, the Canadian Red Ensign was lowered for the last time and the Canadian maple leaf flag was raised to the strains of “O Canada” and the cheers of the crowd.