In the dusk of the pandemic the Canadian Flag was used as a rallying cry by anti-vaxxers and truck protesters that wielded the flag “American parade style” festooned on trucks and cars. The point was that freedom had been taken away by the mandatory exclusions resulting from not being vaccinated. Those included flying across Canada and going into restaurants for a period of time.
No one had seen such flag waving before, except during the Vancouver Winter Olympics. How to take back the flag, not so much as a protest symbol for what some perceived the government did wrong, and make it about a country that most of the time in its 155 year history did a lot of things right?
The Rotary Club of Delta has a “Raise the Flag” campaign where groups of volunteers will install a flagpole and Canadian Flag on the front boulevard of any commercial building, apartment building or detached dwelling in Delta.
The flagpole installations happen twice a year for a donation to the Rotary Club, with volunteers installing flags for Remembrance Day, followed by Canada Day on July 1. Monies raised from the flag program benefit programs for families, fund water parks for children, and many more local community based initiatives.
The impact of seeing the Canadian flag in summer boulevards and gardens is magnificent. It shows the power of a simple idea that not only provides a fundraiser for the Rotary Club programs, but allows communities to take back the use of the flag as a symbol of unity instead of disagreement or discord.
images:sandyjames,rotaryclub
It will be nice to see the flag used again as something other than a petulant middle finger from overgrown children in trucks. Good for the Rotary Club.