Go to brilliant.org/UsefulCharts/ to get a 30-day free trial + the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual subscription.

@cool_guy87

10 ай бұрын

I enjoyed this episode! You should do more of these (eg the UK, Germany, Australia)

@ferrjuan

10 ай бұрын

Can you also do a ranking of the flags of both the U.S. and Mexico states to complete North America!

@lazarus7495

10 ай бұрын

Fun fact the original Australian flag used in ww1 and ww2 was red but was changed because it was too good

@QueenY-co7es

10 ай бұрын

How do I buy your posters in Northern Ireland

@darthparallax5207

9 ай бұрын

So Quebec is Canada's Texas? I love it.

Nunavut is absolutely an S tier. Iconic, simple, and instantly recognizable.

@a88senna

10 ай бұрын

Agreed, it's classic, and I think the star is actually a great detail in it that improves it

@rtixboi4193

10 ай бұрын

Iconic?

@Lord_Raymund

10 ай бұрын

Looks terrible to me

@Kedai610

10 ай бұрын

@@Lord_Raymund To each their own

@Lord_Raymund

10 ай бұрын

@@Kedai610 indeed

I'll give the Canadian provinces credit: they didn't put their names on their flags

@margeryk000

10 ай бұрын

Yes, none of them had any writing. CGP Grey would be very happy.

@kayzeaza

10 ай бұрын

Honestly the only bad one was British Columbia. Thing gave me a headache just looking at it LOL

@alittlebitgone

10 ай бұрын

@@kayzeaza HEY! BC here! Shut it! (yeah, our really sucks)

@geraldmeehan8942

10 ай бұрын

I take it Canada and therefore Manitoba and Ontario used the red ensign because of the connection to the Hudson Bay Company?

@diegoyanesholtz212

10 ай бұрын

Canadian province flag are better, and even Brazilian states are batter than american State. Aberta look like an american state flag though.

Only one I really disagree with you on is Yukon. For whatever reason I find the green/white/blue color combination really pleasing.

@AdamNisbett

10 ай бұрын

Same here. I think I’d have put Yukon in A tier.

@AdamNisbett

10 ай бұрын

I think I’d also have put NW Territory’s a bit higher - B or C tier.

@cocoa_alpaca

10 ай бұрын

agreed also @AdamNisbett i agree

@jemmaisweird

10 ай бұрын

i just wish the tricolor was balanced, the white stripe being wider bothers me

@alittlebitgone

10 ай бұрын

Yup, he's exactly wrong, remove the coat of arms and leave the tricolour and it's A.

Nunavut and Quebec have the best flags graphically and conceptually. A flag is seldom seen up close so simplicity of elements and detail are better. Asp too many of the flags harken back to British rule and roots. What your review shows is that the provinces need new shields as well as new flags. And the flag shouldn’t be the seal repurposed. Also Alberta needs to add an oil derrick to is shield 😅

@HalifaxHercules

Ай бұрын

Nova Scotia's flag is the best as it reflects its Scottish roots, notably the Cross of St. Andrew which is an inverse of the Scottish cross used in Scotland's flag, the the lion escutcheon is based on Scotland's Coat of Arms.

The story behind New Brunswick’s flag is fascinating. Around 1964-65, there was a big national protest movement against the national Red Ensign flag getting replaced with the maple leaf, particularly among Conservative parties. Ontario and Manitoba both adopted their own Red Ensigns in protest, and New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative Party also wanted a Red Ensign. The Liberal premier at the time, the Acadian Louis Robichaud, did not like this idea, particularly since it would erase the Acadian/French history of the province. Knowing that a motion was coming from the Conservatives, Robichaud found a staffer with an interest in heraldry and had him work in secret on an alternative design that he could then table before the Conservatives could table theirs. That design indeed got tabled first and became the official flag in 1965. Also, although its use as a flag only dates to 1858, the design of the Nova Scotia flag comes from its coat of arms, and that was adopted in 1625 - the oldest British colonial coat of arms still in use anywhere in the world.

@ZakhadWOW

9 ай бұрын

I remember the era of Mulroney... Progressive and Conservative are two words that are mutually exclusive. I have NEVER in my 61 years met a Conservative who believed in "progressive (aka Woke) ideas". THey are almost universally the party of reactionary, regressive ideology.

@cattymajiv

9 ай бұрын

@@ZakhadWOW Absolutely right in every way. I could not agree more. But it's kind of a shame to place that comment right here. The OP wasn't commenting on anyone's politics. It was a nice, neutral, interesting description of the history of that flag. So your comment left a bad taste in my mouth. I like that you said it, it just would have been better to place it somewhere else, so it that it wouldn't color the OP's. I hope you understand, but I don't need a reply.

@cattymajiv

9 ай бұрын

@keithlehwald Thank you for the fascinating history of that flag. I would love to learn the histories of them all, so I'll be checking them all out! Imagine if the Tories had their way. We wouldn't have our beautiful iconic maple leaf! I just can't imagine not having it. WOW! It is a truly very effective flag. My family and I've always felt such pride in it! ❤🇨🇦❤🇨🇦❤

@HalifaxHercules

Ай бұрын

New Brunswick's flag also has a rich history. The gold lion on the red background represents New Brunswick's relationship with King George III, Duchy of Brunswick and England. Ship on a yellow background on top of the water is actually a lymphad, a Scottish Galley symbolizing New Brunswick's maritime location and rich shipbuilding history.

@drvelocci

14 күн бұрын

Didn’t realize that about NS coat of arms, gotta say NS flag is the most distinctive flag

Minor correction: Ontario is Canadas most populous province it isn’t the largest. Quebec holds that title.

@nwefie_

9 ай бұрын

that's what he meant...

@mlgdigimon

8 ай бұрын

He meant largest in population, not the biggest

@TheBandit025Nova

8 ай бұрын

But Quebec isn’t English it’s French

@mlgdigimon

8 ай бұрын

@@TheBandit025Nova what does that have to do with this

@Urban_LP

5 ай бұрын

@@TheBandit025Nova What does that have to do with Geography? Canada is a bilingual country by the way, why we should give a fuck about if a region is composed of French or English persons?

In the CGP Grey video, the fact that the Texas flag was not ony easily recognizable but also widely used gave it extra points. Few subnational flags in the world are as often used and as recognizable as the flag of Quebec. The cross is called Cross of Saint Michael. There is also the fact that if you had not ranked the flag of Quebec S-tier, Quebec might have used it as a reason for independance... I pretty much agree with the ranking, but I would have switched Nova Scotia and Nunavut. In my opinion, while a coat of arm in the flag is not automatically a bad thing, I would not put any flag with a CoA as S-tier. And Nunavut is just stunning.

@jebeda

10 ай бұрын

I agree with swapping NS and Nunavut. NS is pretty good, but not to the level of Nunavut's.

@randomhandle253

10 ай бұрын

The Nunavut flag is basically Canada’s New Mexico flag. Indigenous symbols implemented to make an easily recognizable flag from the get-go.

@jesusthroughmary

10 ай бұрын

Scotland is goated so NS wins by association

@darthparallax5207

9 ай бұрын

Excuse me sirs but I am United Statesian. Am I correct in understanding as I most dearly hope I have gotten this right, Quebec is 100% absolutely Canadian Texas? Because if so they are my newest 2nd favorite country on planet Texas. ❤️

@roidrannoc1691

9 ай бұрын

@@darthparallax5207 I mean there are points of comparison sure! If you wanna think of Quebec as Canadian Texas, go ahead!

Prior to the adoption of the current Canadian maple leaf flag in 1965, Ontario did not have its own flag. It simply used the Canadian red ensign. At the time, the maple leaf flag was controversial and many people preferred the old flag. Ontario adopted a version of the red ensign as its provincial flag as a reaction to the red ensign being replaced federally. The Manitoba flag was also adopted in 1965, perhaps for the same reason.

@dakohli

10 ай бұрын

Both Manitoba and Ontario had Conservative governments, and you are indeed right that both adopted their current flags as a sort of protest to the adoption of the maple leaf flag.

@canman5060

10 ай бұрын

@@dakohli Not a sort of protest but a strong British Dominion influence from the old old days.

@plushie946

9 ай бұрын

I know it was primarily a political issue but my god what bad taste. I'd say Canada's flag is without a doubt and just on the merits of its design alone (rather than its prevalence in media and around the world like the American flag, which is good but perhaps somewhat overrated) one of the most recognizable flags on the planet. For a country with a very long history of struggling to establish a unique identity it very rapidly gave everyone (except perhaps conservative Quebecers) something in common. I really love our flag, even though I don't actually feel that much of an attachment to the country as a whole. I find it aesthetically beautiful and you can place it immediately even at a glance, something that even the best tricolour designs struggle with. I hope that in my lifetime the provinces all redesign their flags to remove the British/English symbology. Nova Scotia gets a pass though on their Scottish symbology.

@JacquesPPage

9 ай бұрын

@@plushie946 I find that your comment needs clarification. First, what does "my god what a bad taste" means, what is it in the video that's in bad taste? Second, could you define "conservative Quebecers". I find that Quebecers are way less conservative than the rest of Canada. They very seldom elected Conservative MPs in the last 70 years, except for Mulroney's Progressive-Conservatives in 1984.

@plushie946

9 ай бұрын

@@JacquesPPage im not referring to the party, but the ideological standing. Quebec is by far the most racist province, for example

This video is good. Not because it was about flag/graphic design (which I have at least a marginal interest in and was at least somewhat part of myself liking this video), but because I ended up learning a lot about each province/territory of Canada and the history of such for some of them, something that the American analogue by CGP Gray failed to accomplish. It definitely earns a like from me

@aidenbooksmith2351

10 ай бұрын

To be fair to CGP Gray, he had to go through 50 flags and his video was already long. Perhaps if he split it into several parts, he could've explained more

@eliplayz22

10 ай бұрын

@@aidenbooksmith2351 Fair point

@Tom-mk7nd

10 ай бұрын

One thing to point out though. The lack of standardised design for the trees on the Prince Edward Island flag is due to the fact that in heraldry (from which most of these designs come from), there is no standardisation in the drawings of charges (elements). Only the charge itself and the way it is displayed (colour, shape, relation to other elements...) is important.

One thing you missed was that in the Saskatchewan flag, the green on top indicated the forests in the north half of the province, and the gold or amber in the bottom indicated the wheat fields in the southern part of the province. Otherwise, good job.

@garyholt8315

6 ай бұрын

simply beautiful colours

I'm Turkish, I have absolutely no relation to Canada let alone the lone province of Nova Scotia, but I gotta endorse the S ranking seeing that it bangs so hard. Keep the memory of Stan Rogers alive over there in the west. :)

Many of those flags that simply use their province's armory would actually look better if the used the 2:3 proportions of Québec's flag rather than the 1:2 used in British tradition. The lions would not be so stretched out, to begin with.

4:46 Added potential symbolism to the bison in the Manitoba flag: Manitoba, although it's now a predominantly white province, was originally founded by Louis Riel as a province for Metis people. Many of the Metis followers of Louis Riel were descended from plains indigenous peoples, such as Cree and Dene, and for thousands of years bison has been a staple of their way of life, providing them with food, shelter and clothing. So the bison is probably a nod to the Metis peoples' roots.

@smaeschli

9 ай бұрын

You may well be right about Louis Riel, Ettina. Growing up in Manitoba's Interlake region, I always liked the bison on the province's coat of arms. Still, when I started watching the video, I had a sinking feeling in my gut, knowing that Manitoba's flag wouldn't fare well, if only from a graphic design perspective.

This was fun! Thanks for putting this together. I remember when the Canadian flag first appeared. The principal had us kids gather in the elementary school gym for a short assembly (it first appeared in 1965, even though the design was adopted in 1964 as you point out, after MUCH emotional debate). The flag was displayed respectfully across a table on the stage in front for us. He read from a card that described the dimensions, the significance of the colours, the bars, the number of points on the leaf; we sang O Canada, and back to class we went. My dad, an RCAF veteran of the Korean War and who had served as a peace keeper during the Suez Crisis was very much in favour of the new flag. He said the old flag (which he thought beautiful and which had such a proud history) had caused some awkward moments when, for example, as a Canadian peace keeper he was working against British (and French and Israeli) military action in Suez. The locals could be forgiven for mistrusting the declared unbiased intentions of Canadians flying a flag with the Union Jack on it! Please let me add, I take your point about Quebec, their beautiful flag, and the referenda, but I do push back a little on the “Quebec and the rest of Canada” description so often used in our country. It can be worse in French where it’s often “Quebec and Canada”. As you know, Canada began as a federation of four provinces Ontario (Upper Canada), Quebec (Lower Canada), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The first member to seek separation from Confederation was…Nova Scotia. Great video. Thanks!

Quebec has one of the best flags in the world in my opinion!

I personally agree with you that Nova Scotia's flag is very well designed. Would I have given it an S...maybe, but certainly no less than an A. Even if it might be another example of slapping a coat of arms on a simplistic background, I do agree that it brings more color to the flag and balances it out.

@darthparallax5207

9 ай бұрын

It sounds like they have to be strictly A tier as they do not declare independence from Canada often enough to earn the coveted Perfect S-Tier

Anticosti Island is part of the province of Quebec, but your map at 0:29 shows it as part of Newfoundland and Labrador.

I really like the Saskatchewan and Nunavut flags! Very pleasant to look at. The BC flag made my brain hurt. The Newfoundland flag looks like a projectile shot out of a cannon. The blue being the barrel, the red triangles the muzzle flash and the yellow and red arrow the shell, or flechette.

Its a tie between Quebec and Nunavut for me for the best, they highlight land and do it so well

As a British Columbian I really like our flag and can’t believe Ontario’s flag was put so much higher than ours.

@dragontiger624

9 ай бұрын

Agreed on that, at least make ontario equal as ours

@kmacgregor6361

9 ай бұрын

As an Ontarian, I agree. B.C.'s is better.

@Bear-re5xm

9 ай бұрын

Ontario is bad but not "stretching the union jack" bad

@dragontiger624

9 ай бұрын

@@Bear-re5xm so they're equal?

@happydog2905

9 ай бұрын

Agreed.

As a Québécois, I love that you pronounce Québec as it should be pronounced and not "Kwaybec" as most anglos seem to do. Great video too! It was nice to learn about each province. Keep up the good work.

I'm a Canadian of German descent, but the British flags incorporated in the provincial ones speak to our genesis as part of the British empire. Without it we'd be America.

Another good ranking would be with the Franco-canadian Flags, I honestly prefer most of them over the provicial. Personal favs are Franco-Columbian, Franco-Manitoban and the Acadians flag.

@UsefulCharts

10 ай бұрын

I didn't know about these (except for the Acadian one). Love the Franco BC one!

@poeleabois

10 ай бұрын

You should look up the flag of the Saguenay region. It predates the flag of Québec, which predate the flag of Canada.

@angeldude101

9 ай бұрын

Holly shit! How are these so much better than the actual flags‽ Nunavut's might be worse, but that's just because the official one is already so good.

@marc2156

9 ай бұрын

I like thenFranco-Ontarian flag. It has equal status with the regular Ontario flag (but the Ontario flag takes precedence in display ranking). However, it is mostly only flown in Ontario municipalities or communities with a large francophone minority presence (for instance, at Ottawa city hall, French language school boards and social clubs).

@DihydrogenMonoxideGuy

6 ай бұрын

Are these actual flags that were adopted at one point or an alternate universe thing can pls someone explain

I think if the bottom half of the British Columbia flag was stretched to normal flag proportions, that would end up being really nice.

@floraposteschild4184

10 ай бұрын

That was my thought. If people think that's not British enough,, the blue and white could also represent two of the three colours on the British flag.

@Artur_M.

10 ай бұрын

I agree. 👍

@unusualhistorian1336

10 ай бұрын

Also, wouldn't replacing the crown on the B.C. flag with a St. Edwards or Tudor Crown make more sense?

@rtixboi4193

10 ай бұрын

Am I the only one that really likes it?

@angeldude101

9 ай бұрын

As a British Columbian, what about BC is actually British? I say, focus on the sun and the waves and ditch the union jack. Alternatively: The Doug. (Aka the Cascadia flag. The tree is probably too detailed, but it doesn't include a squished second flag nor a coat of arms.)

Happy Canada Day! Nice to see the Quebec flag recognized as a great flag ⚜️

Ontario is the closest to staying British. Hence why theirs is more British. You should also cover City flags like Calgary, Toronto etc Fun Fact: Calgary was settled by Scottish people the name of the city comes from Scotland as well.

@GoBlueGirl78

10 ай бұрын

Scots settled a massive amount of land in Canada.

@ysanne7550

10 ай бұрын

If he does the city flag, Laval, Québec is the ungliest

@UsefulCharts

10 ай бұрын

I had to Google the Laval flag. Wow. That's definitely something else!

@Carpediem357

10 ай бұрын

@@ysanne7550 how is that a flag?😂😂😂😂 I know Quebec is weird but did they have to take it so literal!???

@philipmadden7013

10 ай бұрын

Most Canadian city flags barely count as flags IMHO.

The colours on the Saskatchewan flag represent the prairies in the southern half of the province, and the forests in the northern half

@Lampebruder

10 ай бұрын

It reminds me of the John Deere tractor

@alittlebitgone

10 ай бұрын

@@Lampebruder I believe that was part of the design philosophy.

@Lampebruder

10 ай бұрын

@@alittlebitgone apparently John Deere is banned in Canada

@borbicus

10 ай бұрын

@@Lampebruder Where did you see that lmao John Deere is everywhere in the prairies

@Lampebruder

10 ай бұрын

@@borbicus it’s something to do with farmers having the right to fix their tractors or some weird shit

Happy Canada Day to all Canadians!! A marvelous country with beautiful people! ❤️ 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 ❤️

@barbarawright5306

9 ай бұрын

Thank you! (Sorry my reply is so late.) 😂

I would have moved the Alberta flag up to a B because of the beautiful graphic symbolism and the blue looks really nice. I think the S for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland was a bit much IMHO. Otherwise I'm on board with your choices. I also really like the Nunavut flag, after Quebec's I feel it is the nicest flag.

@coldlakealta4043

9 ай бұрын

the blue in the AB flag represents the Mackenzie River, life blood for the Native Peoples and gateway to the west for the Hudson's Bay Company and the European explorers. He blew that one.

@douglasstemke2444

9 ай бұрын

@@coldlakealta4043 Question for you. Unless my geography is way off, the Mackenzie River doesn't even enter Alberta. Why would the blue represent a river not even in the province? Just wondering.

@coldlakealta4043

9 ай бұрын

@@douglasstemke2444 Yes, the river proper runs from Great Slave Lake to the Arctic. A large part of the NW of Alberta lies directly in the Mackenzie River Basin, and its history and geography were greatly influenced by that. We were taught in school that showing the Mackenzie River on the provincial shield was an acknowledgement of the river’s massive impact on the settlement and culture of the province.

The British flags are a part of Canadas heritage. Hence why the Canadian provincial flags often have a British connection. I don’t think we should get rid of them just because Canada is independent.

@ReactsRiot

10 ай бұрын

Agreed!

@marklittle8805

10 ай бұрын

Especially when he speaks of other people coming from other places to Canada. So what....they moved to be part of Canada. I am not for changing the flag to make them happy. Most things we have tossed out the welcome mat for newcomers and do so happily. But leave the flags alone

@JoshTalks11

6 ай бұрын

@@marklittle8805 But what if the majority of Canadians (newcomers and generations old alike) do want a change? Canada can keep the British conventions and philosophy like its colors and design, but it doesn't have to explicitly yell British like the Ontario flag. The British made their own thing when they made the British flag. Artistic designers, kings and royals were involved. Canadians should do the same with people from the country and create a legacy that will last for generations, for the remaining unchanged flags (looking at you, Ontario)

@marklittle8805

6 ай бұрын

@@JoshTalks11 perhaps. But it was British loyalists that carved this province out of the woods. You don't dismiss that

@HalifaxHercules

Ай бұрын

That's especially true for the Atlantic provinces. For example, with the Nova Scotia Flag, lion escutcheon represents the official arms of Scotland, and the blue saltire on white field is a reverse of the Scottish flag to differentiate between Nova Scotia (New Scotland) and Scotland.

One thing I wanna mention, that Canada had a blue ensign version of their old flag, and Australia still has a Red Ensign. The blue ensign as mentioned was for (non military) state vessels, and red for civilian vessels so each British Territory needed both . As the blue ensigns were only permitted for use by the state, people ended up primarily flying the red ensign which is why people began to see the red ensign as the national flag. This was even the case for Australia during the early 20th century, altho they eventually settled on the blue ensign as when Australia officially made the blue ensign their flag in 1953, they thought choosing the red ensign would have "Communist Undertones" plus blue was reminiscent of the Eureka Flag, a proto-Australian flag. And while red was preferred, both were seen as national flags and both were used by soldiers in the world wars.

I have a thought about PEI's flag, considering it's based on heraldry. Most coats-of-arms are made from a verbal template called a blazon, which helped medieval heralds draw up shields. A blazon is basically just a formal, standardized textual description of a shield, its colors, and the design elements used. The blazon for PEI probably just says "three oak saplings" and "an oak tree", so exactly how detailed that has to be is up to the artist. That's why there's no consistency.

@jgw5491

9 ай бұрын

I was looking to mention this. 🍁

Sitting here with a smug look on my face as somebody who has lived in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland my whole life. P.S: When you introduced it as the "Newfoundland Flag" you probably pissed off the Labradorians, all 25 of them.

@alittlebitgone

10 ай бұрын

Shhhh, they have a highway now, they can come get us!

My ranking: S - Quebec A - Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Nunavut B - Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon C - New Brunswick, Northwestern Territories D - British Columbia, Alberta F - Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island

The flag of Quebec is based on the French civil ensign, the design used when Quebec was founded. Which was the white cross on the blue background and nothing else. The royal coat of arms was added later. Ensign flags were the flag flown at the stern of a ship. Called that after the rank of Ensign, the guy who held the unit standard in a army company.

You DEFINITELY got to do this with flags for other countries, I really love hearing your opinions on flags.

i like that this video wasnt just a strict rundown of how each flag scored against the five “rules” of flag design like grey’s video was, this is a much better way to critique flags as the symbols and works of art that they are instead of just following a checklist

@ArturoSubutex

9 ай бұрын

True, but at the same time it allowed a bit too much subjectivity at times. Nunavut is defo S tier. Yukon and Nova Scotia are A tier if you ask me.

I love this video! I am an American with many Canadian ancestors. My paternal grandmother was born in Coaticook, Quebec. And her father was born in Dixville and her mother was born in Barnston. Several of my maternal 3rd, 4th and 5th great grandparents (and a few of my 6th great grandparents) were born throughout New Brunswick. I didn't know any of this flag history before this video, and I am fascinated! Thank you, Matt! 🙂

Happy Canada day to fellow Canadians. Love from Kuwait 🇨🇦❤️🇰🇼

Why do you consider the Scottish coat of arms not a colonial symbol but the english/brunswick one is

@UsefulCharts

10 ай бұрын

Oh, I totally consider the Scottish coat of arms a colonial symbol. Like I said, I was 100% biased by liking the NS one because it's the province where I was born.

@jelstone20

10 ай бұрын

@@UsefulCharts You may have mentioned your bias but that doesn't change the fact that you went out of your way to criticise the colonial elements of the English ones but not the Scottish one. It makes you come across as an anglophobe.

@Rhangaun

10 ай бұрын

@@UsefulCharts The lion has been the most important symbol of the city of Brunswick since the High Middle Ages, originating with the Saxon duke Henry the Lion who chose the city as his residence in ca. 1165. IMHO it makes perfect sense for a place called "New Brunswick" to include it in its arms or flag as a reference to its name's origin, and to consider the similarity to the English lions a mere coincidence.

@UsefulCharts

10 ай бұрын

With all the videos I've done on this channel about the British monarchy, I'm pretty sure no one will mistake me for an anglophobe! 😆

@megusta9268

10 ай бұрын

@UsefulCharts thanks for the response, I only worry in a lot of cases Scottish involvement in empire is somewhat looked over relative to England.

Thanks for this content, and for visiting PEI so much over the years from an Islander myself! I also forgot how bad our flag looked but I do love nearby New Brunswick's flag a lot as well. My one point I wanted to bring up was that it was a bit confusing that you complained about British and Colonial elements in the flags but you thought that Ontario at least should have the historical elements in their flag given they're one of the og provinces, it sounded a bit contradictory from my view. Otherwise, great video

I really want someone to try a British Counties flag tier list, because many of the the flags are relatively new while others are old but all of them are interesting designs tied to centuries if not a millennium of history.

your videos are one of my favorites to listen to and study! what ever the subject, i just love your deep investigation and dedication to unravel the worldly mess. merci!!! dankje! todah

In the francophones region of Quebec, people voted at 70 ~ 75 % to leave Canada. Stop saying that we are Canadians

Did you know that the Norse ship in New Brunswick's flag is called a lymphad? (The word comes from the Gaelic for "long ship.") Yes, I am a vexillology nerd!

I assume the Canadian flag itself would be an S, right? Even as an American, I love that gosh-darn maple leaf front and center. I'm fond of the US Flag, of course, but it has one fatal flaw: the field of stars in the top-left corner is way too busy. I get that it represents the current 50 states, but that's one more reason for legislators to be reluctant to add, say, Puerto Rico to the list of states.

@blakekaveny

10 ай бұрын

Oh please we all know the star thing ain’t the reason they refuse to make Puerto Rico a state

@quantumhelium

10 ай бұрын

@@blakekavenySi señor

@andrewphilos

10 ай бұрын

@@blakekaveny True. Hence why I said "one more reason" and not "the reason."

@UsefulCharts

10 ай бұрын

I might be a bit biased, but I'd put the Canadian national flag in the SS tier. Looks so great flying against the blue sky or sea.

@quantumhelium

10 ай бұрын

@@UsefulCharts This is the international consensus I believe; CDN flag being very well designed from aesthetic and practical purposes.

The old flag of Canada was one of the most beautiful ever created and was replaced with a leaf. And now here you are wanting to see all trace of Britain removed from the provincial flags too. *Clap*

thank you so much for making this video, CGP grey’s video was great and I wish there was more similar content, my wish has come true

‘Albertas looks like an American state flag’ That tracks

American checking in here. I found this video super interesting and fun! I had never really seen these flags before, except Quebec. My top 3 are Nunavut, Quebec, and British Columbia (you were wrong on this one IMO!) . My least favorite is PEI.

Great video! Small nitpick, Québec not only considers itself as seperate nation, but is also recognized as such by the Canadian constitution in articles 90Q1 and 90Q2 with it's sole official and common language being french. Anyhow, keep up the great content!

Excellent job on this video. Being a proud resident of NL, I can't help but add to your summary of our flag. The simple design is chock full of symbolism, such as: The colours - white for snow and ice, blue for the sea, red to represent human struggle (blood), and the yellow arrow pointing towards a prosperous future for both Newfoundland and Labrador together, represented by the two red triangles. The image of a trident stands out and if you look at the center of the flag, the shape of a maple leaf can be made out. The four blue triangles represent the four groups of people which live here (Innu, Inuit, Beothuks and those of European ancestry and immigrants). When hung as a banner, the red and yellow arrow represents a sword out of respect for our veterans. Of course, the general resemblance of the Union flag of the UK is a nod to the colonial heritage of NL.

What kismet! I had *just* rewatched CGP Grey's state flag video a couple of days ago....and then rewatched it two more times. It might be my all-time favorite video of his.

“We don’t see the combination of yellow and green much” Cries in Brazilian

@killianobrien2007

10 ай бұрын

Yeah that's one country

@killianobrien2007

10 ай бұрын

Not like the combo of red white and blue for example

BC's flag looks like two people argued about which flag should be adopted. They couldn't agree so just made one flag out of the two. 🤣

As a maritimer, I was really pleased with the video. It’s fun to see a KZreadr from home! Love your videos

At 12:40 Yukon.... How could you not give the puppy an A?? Who's a good boy??!! Hua? Who's a good boy??!! *Start uncontrollable chuckling*

Man Ontario and Manitoba are really the laziest flags, I understand they were partly created to appease people who were mad about the flag change when we adopted the maple leaf, and I know that Ontario barely uses its provincial flag (we just use the national one really), but couldn’t we update it to something better? The Franco-Ontarian flag is really cool, and I like Ottawa’s municipal flag, so why does the whole province have to settle?

You should do the flags of the cantons of Switzerland next, some great flags and interesting stories behind them :)

New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island should be rated better for its lions because: 1. The lion's design being stretched was on purpose in heraldry, and makes for a nice banner as well, similar to mediaeval ones. 2. The outer rectangles have precedence in heraldry. 3. It's different from having a stretched flag within a flag. Overall, Canadian provincial flags are significantly and leagues better than American state flags because at least, they retained many aspects of traditional heraldry and vexicology rules, and did not slap text or coat of arms willy nilly.

Fun one! Im Swedish and haven't seen these flags before (besides Quebecs). I agree with your listing, besides Nunavut, that's my favorite! In Sweden we don't have regional flags and our national flag is kind of boring 🇸🇪

@alittlebitgone

10 ай бұрын

Are you serious? The Swedish national flag is EPIC. A nearly perfect design.

@coldlakealta4043

9 ай бұрын

Heja Sverige

@bcdm999

7 ай бұрын

Everyone in Canada loves the Ikea - sorry, I mean the Swedish flag

As a proud Newfoundlander, my favourite flag for Newfoundland is the tricolour. While never adopted officially, I love the Irish design. It was designed by Irish rebel and union general in the American civil war Thomas Meagher. I understand though a lot of the anglo-Newfoundland population would probably rather not have a flag associated with Irish rebellion, but it's a cool and nice looking flag nonetheless!

@ryanfleming1040

10 ай бұрын

one of the few flags in the world to be pink as well

@quantumhelium

10 ай бұрын

Which indigenous band is he referring to? The three points? Micmacs?

@carolusmagnus9757

10 ай бұрын

@@quantumhelium I'm fairly certain he's referring to the Beothuk who wore those pendants

@westernstealth873

9 ай бұрын

Well loved by my family and many others along the Strait of Belle Isle

First off: THANK YOU for doing this! Really neat. Québéc's flag ("le fleurdelisé") has a white cross to symbolise christianism; not because of the old Royal French colonial flag (anyway, that's what I have always been told). It is interesting that this fact is mentioned in the French language version of Wikipedia but not the English one !?

@glaframb

6 ай бұрын

the white Cross represents christianity. White Fleur de Lys represent the former New France and the former Kingdom of France. The French Republican flag aka The Bleu-Blanc-Rouge (Blue-White-Red) came from the Flag of Paris Red and Blue while the Royalty in White is surround by Paris. Funny thing when Haiti got it's indenpendance in 1804 they got rid of the white part. They don't want white here (in Haiti). Now the Haitian flag are Red and Blue like the flag of Paris. White is also a color associated with Purity. Purple was the color associated with Power in the Roman Senate.

The Nova Scotia flag is my favourite it is a nice simple design with the Scottish coat of arms in the centre representing our heritage.

Merci pour cette merveilleuse vidéo ! From the east coast to the west, what a beautiful and wonderous country.

BC: Amputate the top half, and it’s a pretty good flag. A bit fiddly. Alberta: Make the center hills-and-mountains part the full flag. Saskatchewan: Lose the shield. The flower is too fiddly for a flag, but either keep it or replace it with one of those yellow things. Maybe center it. Manitoba: Just keep the bison. Point him right, so he’s looking out from the flagpole. Red background, green background? Dunno. ON: Just keep the yellow maple leaves on the green background. (I wonder if somebody could make a flag with just a maple-leaf design? Maybe add some vertical stripes…) Quebec is pretty good. A. New Brunswick: Amputate the lion, keep the ship. Again a bit fiddly, but not bad. PEI: A lost cause. I have no idea what to do with this except totally redesign it. Nova Scotia: Don’t know how to fix this either but at least it doesnt look terrible like PEI. Newfoundland is perfect. A glorious flag with a solid identity. S. Yukon: Take the red-on-blue mountains section, expand that to the entire flag, you’re done. Maybe keep the dog, but point him to the right as above. NWT: Drop the shield, keep the fox centered on the blue-white-blue stripes. But that’s white-on-white, so needs to be tweaked. Nunavut has a strong identity. A. Not sold on the filled-in-line-art (the inukshuk stones should each just be a solid color), but I do like how the star is aligned to literally nothing. So basically my philosophy is: remove all coats of arms, all British ensigns and other countries’ flags and symbols. All shields are ugly and must die. The true test for any flag however is, can an 8 year old draw it pretty accurately with just a pencil?

I like Nunavuts flag a lot. It's easily identifiable, simple yet different and the colour scheme really goes well.

Many of us Pacific Northwesterners feel a kinship that crosses the U.S.-Canadian Border. As such, I really like the Yukon's Green-White-Blue base as the root for the Cascadia Flag. I give the Yukon flag an A. Great video as always

The best part of this video (and CGP Grey's) was that I'm actually learning the Canadian provincial and territorial flags. For this video I'm more ashamed of my ignorance, as I'm also Canadian!

I appreciate your method of evaluating them, because I watched JJ's video about the original "flag code" that was used and it gave me a strong distaste for it.

Great video! Agreed with your high tier picks, personally I’m a fan of the Quebec and Nunavut designs. The US and Canada really need to purge these flags of all the coats of arms and doodles. Good flags make good SVGs.

I would rank the Yukon higher, maybe around a B or A. The design of the Newfoundland flag doesn’t speak to me as much, would rate it a lot lower.

Very cool to know you are originally from Nova Scotia! I myself am from there too. Love your videos!

Happy Canada day! Edit: would love to see more of this content just for fun, perhaps with European flags for instance

Flags based on or including CoA's are to difficult, here are some good guidelines for good flags Keep It Simple. The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory… Use Meaningful Symbolism. The flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes… Use 2 or 3 Basic Colors. Limit the number of colors on the flag to three which contrast well and come from the standard color set… No Lettering or Seals. Never use writing on any kind or an organization’s seal… Be Distinctive or Be Related. Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections… Only Quebec follows these guidelines.

@Bordelll

9 ай бұрын

As beautiful as they are I found drawing the Canadian and Quebec flags quite difficult as a kid. The maple leaf and the fleur de lys aren’t easy to draw.

@glaframb

6 ай бұрын

Martinique and Québec share a striking resemblance but with the Martinique Flag the Fleur-de-Lys was replace by snake.

4:57 isn't Quebec the largest province of Canada? im sure Ontario is largest by population and maybe that's what you meant to say but im pretty sure Quebec is larger (Actually larger by 592 km2)

@marklittle8805

10 ай бұрын

Population wise no. Arguing who has more wilderness doesn't matter for much compared to the population

Well done, and Happy Canada Day!

My personal rankings: ( also ranked within tiers ): S: Quebec, Nova Scotia A: Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, Northwest Territories B: Saskatchewan, Yukon C: Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba D: New Brunswick F: British Columbia, Prince Edward Island

I think the Nunavut flag would look more coherent if the star had a black outline on it to match the inukshuk. Without it, the two elements don’t look like they belong together, and the inukshuk needs the outline to be readable.

I love our BC flag, fantastic original design that stands out and is easy to recognize. CPG grey's video is also basically just an opinion video as none of the rules he mentions are actually rules. British symbols belong in Canada to reflect our history.

@Abrothers12

9 ай бұрын

I like our flag.. from a distance

I appreciate that you are not strictly following the so called “flag rule” which I find too proscriptivist in terms of what a flag should be. A coat of arms may not be obvious at distance but when done well the shapes can be abstracted out and the details make you want to get a closer look.

Thoughts. 1. Ontario gets everything already so it can buzz off and let Manitoba keep its heckin good flag. 2. Saying that nova scotias keeping its Scottish roots well displayed, while objecting so fiercely to English symbols shown in New Brunswick and MB Ont and Alta seems a bit unfair 3. The stripes make Yukon and NWT look way cooler, what are you on about 4, and probably most importantly, it’s a crime to put Nunavut’s killer flag anywhere but S tier. It’s instantly recognizable, has an inukshuck, and the star makes it much more balanced, preventing the white from looking like if was forgotten.

Hello Canadians-What’s the difference between a province and a territory?

@newfieocean

10 ай бұрын

Territories have more federal government control

@BrandonVout

10 ай бұрын

According to Wikipedia, provinces get their authority from the constitution while territories have powers delegated to them by parliament (and thus can have their powers changed more easily).

@GoBlueGirl78

10 ай бұрын

How they are administered. Provinces get their authority from the Constitution, territories from the federal government.

@mikeetee

10 ай бұрын

Canada being a federation, the provinces receive their authorities based on the divisions of power in the Canadian constitution. Territories receive theirs from law passed by the federal Parliament (i.e., they are under the federal Parliament's constitutional authority)

@GoBlueGirl78

10 ай бұрын

@@andrewphilos Has nothing to do with population.

I guess we must have the same tastes in flags. I'm in complete agreement with the grades assigned to the flags. I really liked the originality of the Newfoundland flag; I didn't know anything about its design, and your explanation made it even more agreeable. The Nova Scotia flag is my absolute favorite though, from its simple yet elegant design to its stark and appealing colors. Bravo!

Had idea for new Yukon flag while watching this: Five diagonal stripes across a rectangle. The stripes, from top to bottom, are forest green, snow white, river blue, forest green and snow white, representing grass, snow, rivers, trees and falling snow, respectively. Thoughts?

There was a blue ensign version of the old Canadian flag and Australia has a red ensign version as well.

I find it a bit funny that you dislike the presence of British colonial symbols on and then proceed to praise Québec's flag for it design based on a French colonial flag and Nova Scotia's inverted Scottish saltire and Scottish coat of arms (I do have to say that I 100% agree that those flags are S tier). I think that ultimately, provinces using symbols tying them to their colonial history is pretty cool when it highlights what makes them unique, but falls a bit flat with British and English symbols since they apply to so much of the country. Still, if most people in a province feel strongly about that heritage, I think it's appropriate for that province's flag to retain old colonial symbols.

If you notice the coat of arms of Ontario and Quebec are the only ones with maple leaves in them. That’s because Ontario and Quebec were the original upper and lower Canada while the other colonies were called what they’re called now. So it’s an acknowledgement that while the whole country is called Canada originally that name only applied to those two.

@PeloquinDavid

10 ай бұрын

I should also add that in some parts of Western Canada (home of this country's version of "Western alienation"), the Canadian flag has often - though often tongue-in-cheek - been criticized as an "Eastern" flag BECAUSE of the maple leaf: the autumn red leaves of the sugar maple are all but unknown in the West, making it an "Eastern" tree...

@Funnybriton

10 ай бұрын

@@PeloquinDavidmakes sense since the maple leaf was the symbol of the “canadiens” the French speakers of the east and predates the 7 years war. The maple has been a symbol of those ppl since the 17th century. The English speakers just adopted it to mean all parts of Canada out of convenience. Just like how “O canada” was a French speakers anthem to their history and we anglicized it and made it the national anthem. So I understand the wests annoyance and having symbols imposed on them a bit.

I always found distinct flags more appealing. So BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut all do a good job. Most would need sligh updates or redesign and they all could be highly ranked. As many mentioned francomanitoban and franco ontarian flags are clearly S-tier. Many people underestimate the difficulty to draw a nice maple leaf or a nice fleur de lys. As a kid I wished it was easier, my flags always looked quite bad.

I have to disagree on Yukon. I find the green and blue stripes quite pleasing, bringing out the green and blue in the beautiful coat of arms.

Matt: I think we should get rid of all the colonial symbols from our flags. Also Matt: Nova Scotia’s flag is based heavily on Scotland. S-TIER!! but seriously, great video

As a fellow BC'er, I agree that the BC flag is unfortunately, a bit of a mess. It makes me sad that such a beautiful province couldn't do better. I agree with most of your other rankings too, although I would have ranked Yukon just a little higher, and Ontario and SK a tier lower.

Overall my respect for Canada as a country in general increased from learning that you have both a Manitoba and a Quebec and I think that that is just splendid and great. I hope that in the future US-Canadian trade relations lower all of the prices Canadians pay for US goods forever as a sign of eternal friendship. 🙏

The background of the Nunavut flag serves as a reminder of which snow to eat, and which snow not to eat.

@yveslafrance2806

10 ай бұрын

I shamefully must say that thought did cross my mind 😂

Keep the british symbols forevermore. Never forget your past.

@ReactsRiot

10 ай бұрын

Agreed!

Nova Scotia’s flag is definitely S tier, it even surpasses the Scottish “parent” flag, GOAT’d

I loved this! What a great video! And I found myself agreeing on nearly every point, though I never would have thought it out in such detail on my own. Thanks very much! Somebody gave a history a history here in the comments, of the NB flag, and it was just fascinating, so now I'm going to go looking for similar info on all of the Canadian flags. Incidentally, I had thought Nunavut's flag was either a blue polar bear on a white background, or the reverse. I had one of each and I BADLY wish I could replace them. If anybody has any of the older style of soft nylon flags, of the polar bear or Canadian flag, in any size, please tell me and I will give you my email address. I'd like to buy them. Thank you!

Thank you. ❤ Happy Canada day! 🇨🇦

I would have bumped the Yukon up to C tier, and Newfoundland way down to the C tier. Also, I would have guessed that star on the last flag would have represented the North Star since the territory it right in the center of Canada in the far north.

@japanpanda2179

9 ай бұрын

Also would have given a bit more credit to Northwest Territory. I love flags that include an abstract representation of their territory, like Tennessee and Ireland. I would have given it at least B.