The committee considered the thousands of flag designs, most of dubious merit,
submitted by interested Canadians and heard testimony from heraldry experts and historians over the next six weeks. By an agreed upon procedure, the committee eliminated all but one in each category. The designs were divided into three categories ΓÇô those with three maple leaves; those with one maple leaf; those containing the Union Jack and/or the fleur-de-lis. They then eliminated the Union Jack/fleur-de-lis option. The Conservative members believed that the Liberals and others would vote for the three leaf design as originally proposed by Pearson, but the latter had secretly agreed to vote for the single leaf flag. Consequently, MathesonΓÇÖs stratagem worked and all 14 members of the committee endorsed StanleyΓÇÖs single maple leaf proposal.
