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 ΓÇ£O CanadaΓÇ¥ and the cheers of the crowd.
