Flag of British Columbia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The flag
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

is based upon the shield of the provincial arms of British Columbia

Coat of arms of British Columbia

The original coat of arms of British Columbia, also known as the Arms of Her Majesty in right of British Columbia, was granted to British Columbia by a Royal Warrant of King Edward VII on 31 March 1906...

. At the top of the flag is a rendition of the Union Flag

Flag of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland uses as its national flag the royal banner known as the Union Flag or, popularly, Union Jack. The current design of the Union Flag dates from the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801...

, defaced

Defacement (flag)

Defacement is a term used in heraldry and vexillology to refer to the addition of a symbol or charge to another flag. For example, the Australian flag is the British Blue Ensign defaced with the Southern Cross in the fly and the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter, beneath the Union...

in the centre by a crown, representing the province's origins as a British colony, with a setting sun

Sunset

Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...

below.

History

The British Columbian flag was introduced on June 14, 1960, by Premier W. A. C. Bennett, and was first flown on board the BC Ferries

BC Ferries

British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia...

motor vessel Sidney (later Queen of Sidney). Some early versions of the flag were reversed, with the Union Flag on the bottom. This was changed as it conflicted with the expression "The sun never sets on the British Empire

The empire on which the sun never sets

The phrase, "the Empire on which the sun never sets", has been used with variations to describe certain global empires that were so extensive that there was always at least one part of their territory in daylight....

Design

The four wavy white and three wavy blue lines symbolize the province's location between the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

and the Rocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

. The setting sun represents the fact that British Columbia is Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

's westernmost province. The sun may also reflect the provincial motto "Splendor sine occasu" (beauty that never diminishes) -- or, in other words, the sun that never sets (on the British Empire). In Canada, it could be argued, the Empire lives on in the country's symbols and parliamentary institutions. The Union Flag

Union Flag

The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...

on top reflects the province's British heritage, while the King Edward crown in the centre represents the Canadian Royal Family. The flag has an aspect ratio of 3:5.

The flag of British Columbia is similar to the flag of the British Indian Ocean Territory

Flag of the British Indian Ocean Territory

The flag of the British Indian Ocean Territory is similar to the flags of other British dependencies and colonies as it has the Union Flag in the upper hoist-side corner. The palm tree and crown are symbols of the Indian Ocean Territory...

. It also bears similarities to the flag of Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

county in the United Kingdom.

History

Design

See also