A Canadian Flag is attached to an ice-capped piling in Okanagan Lake in Summerland.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Facebook/ Leslie Henderson

Canadian flags wave proudly in urban centres throughout Kamloops and the Okanagan, and can also be found on mountain tops and in other outdoor spaces. 

The red and white colours on the flags are striking and this winter residents photographed several of them, including the one at Giant’s Head Mountain Park in Summerland and massive one on hillside in Falkland.

For Flag Day on Feb. 15, a group of Kelowna residents created an acre-sized Canadian flag on frozen Ellison Lake.

Flag Day marked 60 years since the current version of the flag was adopted in 1965.

Both before and after Confederation in 1867, Canada used the United Kingdom’s Royal Union Flag, commonly known as the Union Jack, as well as a naval flag called the Canadian Red Ensign, which was a combination of the Union Jack and the shield of Canada, according to the Government of Canada.

A picture of the Canadian flag created by residents from Holiday Park in Kelowna on Feb. 13, 2025.

(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)

In 1921, King George V granted Canada an official coat of arms that was added to the Canadian Red Ensign flag. 

In 1925 and again in 1946, attempts were made to consider possible concepts for a new national flag but were held back by government for fear of sparking political instability. Public interest grew again after the Second World War but it was controversial. Some Canadians were attached to the Union Jack and Canadian Red Ensign flags, and their British heritage.

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In 1963, newly elected Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson promised to resolve the flag controversy in time for the country’s centennial in 1967.

He made a design for a flag, but it was turned down by members parliament, who then created a committee and deadline for national flag design submissions. Some committee members wanted to keep the old flags, while others wanted new symbols.

Of thousands of submissions, the flag proposed by George Stanley, Dean of Arts at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario was chosen.

The Canadian flag waves at Riverside Park in Kamloops in the winter.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Josias Van Vliet

The new maple leaf flag was made official by a proclamation from Queen Elizabeth II on Jan. 28, 1965. On Feb. 15 of that year, it was inaugurated in a public ceremony on Parliament Hill.

We know we’ve missed some great places to find Canadian Flags in the Thompson Okanagan, send us an email to let us know at news@infonews.ca

This snowy photo of the Canadian flag at Giant's Head Mountain Park in Summerland was taken in February.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Jimmy Mac

The flag at Riverside Park in Kamloops is photographed on a cold, winter day.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Lorraine Weseen Corrigan

The flag on Pincushion Mountain in Peachland is seen waving in the summer, 2024.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Facebook/ Stacey Smith Byrnes

The iconic Canadian Flag on the hillside in Falkland is pictured in February.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Paul Keene

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