"A Flag Tree??"

 

I was at our provincial Medical Radiation Technologist conference this weekend here in St. John's. At The Fairmont Hotel. It went very well. During one of our meals. in the hotel Atrium, I looked up and saw all these flags that looked to be draping from this huge Fig tree. The flag that stood out the most however amongst all the provincial flags, was the flag of Nunavut which is in the center of the tree. Now Nunavut is unique in our country because it breaks a precedent among Canadian provincial and territorial flags in that it does not make reference to British heraldry or any coat of arms.

The flag was proclaimed on April 1st, 1999 along with the territory of Nunavut. As you can see it features a red Inukshuk-an Inuit land marker- and a blue star which you cannot see in the flag in the tree and is to the right on the flag. The star represents both the Niqirtsuituq, the North Star and the leadership of elders in the community. The colors of yellow, red, white and blue represent the riches of the land, sea and the sky. It is a beautiful flag steeped in very old truly Canadian culture and history.

Inukshuks traditional in the territories are copied by many travellers all across our country. They stand to remind people of another people and the camaraderie that is exhibited by the adventurers that tread our soils and waters and the fragility of all our lands that so often travellers try to be "one" with in the course of their exploits. The Inukshuk in the bottom picture is one on Silver Fox Island, Indian Bay, NL.