Friday, June 30, 2017

Happy Canada Day!

This year Canada celebrates the 150th (sesquicentennial) anniversary of Confederation.  But the name, and the country, are much older than that.  'Canada' itself is a native word meaning 'village', so if we look back in time, Canada as a home has been here since the ice left!

A lot of the public celebration has referred to Canada's "150th Birthday", which I find a bit misleading.  It's the 150th Anniversary of Confederation, but Upper and Lower Canada started officially in 1791 (226 Years ago), while Canada West and Canada East existed from 1841-1867. The original 'Canada' was a French colony established by Jacques Cartier in 1535, so that's 482 years ago. And that's to say nothing of the First Nations who were around for 10,000 years before that.  The native communities were helpful allies during initial settlement decades as the fur trade developed.  But I could go on for a long time about Canadian history!

In the meantime I've been seeing Canada flags, and other things red and white, everywhere!  Here's the giant chair outside Meadford Town Hall.

Meaford has a Scarecrow Festival in October, and as this display shows, it's going to be based on red and white scarecrows this year!

Canadian flag banners line the main street of Thornbury.

And I spotted this line of tiny flags in the town of Arthur when we were driving through.

Here homes, businesses, farms and even cars feature Canadian flags.  Hope Haven is the therapeutic riding centre just around the corner from us.

There's certainly a lot of commercial exploitation of the colours and symbols.  These are fabrics with a Canadian twist (note the Beaver and the Moose), in a small quilt.

And of course there are those red and white Tulips that bloomed right here in the spring.

This is the biggest single Canadian flag I've seen recently, painted on a barn roof a few miles northwest of here.

 Happy Canada Day!


21 comments:

  1. Yes, Canada Day is a wonderful tradition, right up there with our 4th of July. Or maybe even better since it's Canada we're talking about. Happy Canada Day to all my dear virtual friends. :-)

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  2. A very Happy day of celebration, and the flags, banners, quilts and so much more are a tribute to the years. Tulips specially grown, what a wonderful way to see red and white in nature.

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  3. I like your research on the history. some of it I knew but you put it together nicely. I also heard an interview on the history of O Canada. It has changed over the years.

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  4. Thank you for the history. I watched a 5 minuted video narrated by Mike Myers yesterday and I was thinking the same thing about the 150. I remember Jacques Cartier from Gr. 5 history but had forgotten the 1535 date when he established the French colony. Lots of history. Enjoy Canada Day!

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    1. https://legionmagazine.com/en/2017/06/our-journey-to-150-narrated-by-mike-myers/
      this is the link if anyone is interested although F.G. has summed it up quite nicely!

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  5. Hopefully we can all celebrate a Peaceful Canada Day.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  6. Happy Canada Day----like all images specially the flag lined street. Beautiful flag.
    MB

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  7. All the bright, right colors.

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  8. Happy Canada Day. Have a happy, peaceful, and safe day.
    Enjoyed all those colorful flag pictures.

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  9. Happy Canada Day! I enjoyed all the photos and seeing your pretty Canada flag. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  10. What a beautiful tribute. Happy Canada Day to you. Carol

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  11. Happy birthday to our neighbor up north!

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  12. I'm late, but Happy Canada Day....I so love that barn!

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  13. I like all the proposed names for Canada. Tuponia doesn't seem quite right does it?

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  14. Hope you folks had a good day -- it must be nice to have a sane and rational government.

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  15. The Canada 150 tulips are my favourite. It was quite a day!

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  16. Happy belated Canada Day!

    I want to add a quick note that I appreciate you stopping by my blog from time to time. Me, I do come here more than I comment. I have seen so many blogs come and go and it gives me good pleasure that you are still actively publishing.

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