The painter Christopher Pratt drew it in 1980 from the Union Jack and the pendants of the indigenous peoples of the island.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 1:2 ratio, white, divided into two halves.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
A law of 1931 makes the Union Jack official
Newfoundland was a British colony and later a nearly self-governing dominion, with a flag…
In 1980 the government wanted a flag of its own and chose that of the painter Christopher Pratt
It is very popular, but in 2005 only 25% of Newfoundlanders wanted it made official
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada: the island of Newfoundland and, across the strait, the mainland region of Labrador. Its flag looks like a Union Jack cut in half, but the other half hides a golden arrow and a drawing inspired by the indigenous peoples.
Newfoundland was a British colony and later a nearly self-governing dominion, with a flag of its own, until it joined Canada in 1949. For thirty more years it went on using the Union Jack.
In 1980 the government wanted a flag of its own and chose that of the painter Christopher Pratt. Pratt took inspiration from engravings of some pendants of the Beothuk and Innu, indigenous peoples of the area, which he saw in the provincial museum. The Assembly approved it on 28 May 1980 and it was hoisted in June, around Discovery Day.
Before the current one, Newfoundland used British flags.
1904-1931
The British red flag with the colony’s seal: Mercury presents a fisherman to Britannia. It ended up being seen as the national flag.
1931-1980
A law of 1931 makes the Union Jack official, which stays after the union with Canada.
1980
Christopher Pratt’s flag.
Two flags with no official recognition are still very much alive in the province.
No oficial
It was born in the late 19th century in a Catholic fishermen’s association in St John’s. It is very popular, but in 2005 only 25% of Newfoundlanders wanted it made official.
No oficial · 1974
Michael Martin created it for the mainland part: snow, land and water, with a spruce branch whose three little branches are the Innu, the Inuit and the European settlers.
Every colour and shape has an official meaning:
Blue
the sea, the lakes and the rivers. Its drawing recalls the Union Jack and the ties with the British islands.
White
the snow and the ice.
Red
human effort.
Gold
the people’s confidence in themselves and in the future.
Two triangles
the two parts of the province, the mainland and the island.
Arrow
according to Pratt, it points towards a better future. Together with the triangles it forms a trident, for the fishing.
The official description says that, when the flag hangs like a banner, the arrow looks like a sword remembering the war veterans.
According to the same description, in the centre you can also see the outline of a maple leaf, as well as a Christian cross and a triumphant figure.
It is said that Bishop Fleming invented the tricolour in 1843 to make peace between Catholic and Protestant fishermen. There is no proof: the story became popular in a Church newsletter in 1976.
The provincial Royal Canadian Legion still flies the Union Jack alongside the provincial flag and that of Canada. It is the flag of the United Kingdom, the same one that appears in the corner of Australia.
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Test what you have read about the flag of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Text based on the article “Flag of Newfoundland and Labrador” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Original 2005 upload was created by Robert Crosbie and uploaded by Kooma. Entire flag redrawn/recoded from scratch by MapGrid in 2019. Colors changed by Great Brightstar in 2019., Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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