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| More than just a flag Port Stanley, ON September 2018 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Now, I normally don’t explicitly remember our - or any - flag’s birthday, but this year is different.
Canada is under siege by the president of a nation we once thought was our closest ally, but is now, suddenly, an enemy in so many ways. Our neighbour is being led by a mentally deficient man-child who gleefully rules by edict, lies with chilling ease, worships dictators, and thinks he can bully us into becoming the 51st state by targeting our economy with crippling tariffs.
First, Canadians will happily do without school shootings, watered-down beer, and losing their homes because they dared visit the ER for a broken leg.
Second, we see the dismantling of democracy taking place south of the border, and we’d really rather not be a part of it. Through no choice of our own, we may now live above the meth lab on the other side of the planet’s longest border. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we actually want to hang out there or wear the label.
Third, speaking of labels, we rather treasure our global reputation for politeness. We happily sew the red and white maple leaf flag onto our backpacks and clothes before we pack for a trip - and we bristle when Americans try to do the same.
We’re genial and welcoming, but we’re not pushovers. We may be small in numbers, but we’ve always shown up to fight for the oppressed, and will never bend to the will of those too stupid to learn from history. “Never again” still means something here.
So on this unexpectedly resonant Flag Day, Canadians across the the Great White North have emptied stores of their flag inventories and are flying them with unabashed pride.
It might have taken a sustained threat to our sovereignty to shake us out of our malaise, but today the simple act of flying a flag signals to our once-upon-a-time besties that this fight is only just getting underway, and we have no intention of rolling over and taking it.
Because just as we might have fought off bullies as children, we must do the same now. Otherwise our flag is just a colourful rectangle of fabric blowing in the wind.
#portstanley #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #ohcanada #madeincanada #iamcanadian #mapleleaf #forever #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography
Related:
Sorry, Canada isn't for sale. To anyone. February 2025
Canada Day for some, July 2023
Finding Canada in a distant land, January 2020
The Canadian flag turns 50, February 2015
A face in the flag, August 2011
Happy Canada Day, eh? July 2010
My country's birthday, July 2009
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