This coming Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the time our Saskatchewan flag was raised for the very first time. Our office will be celebrating this commemorative day on Friday, September 20 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. I encourage you to stop in.
Our Saskatchewan Flag has a very unique history as Saskatchewan had existed as a province for 64 years before it had an official flag. A special flag had been designed to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Saskatchewan, and the use of it was extended for Canada’s Centennial in 1967. Some expected that it would be adopted as the provincial flag, but instead there was a public contest to design a new provincial flag, which drew over 4,000 entries.
Thanks to Gail Hapanowicz of Hodgeville, the story of our Saskatchewan flag has been made known in a much greater way. She and her husband purchased the former school in Hodgeville to renovate as a bed and Bbeakfast. There she came across information about the flag’s designer, Anthony Drake. Anthony, who had come from England, was a teacher in Hodgeville from 1967 to 1969 and had submitted 13 designs for the Saskatchewan flag contest. Anthony and his wife, Joan, had returned to England before actually seeing the flag fly over Saskatchewan.
Gail contacted Anthony and he came to visit Saskatchewan in 2016 where he experienced the touching moment of seeing, for the first time, the flag he designed being raised. Anthony and his wife returned again this past summer in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Saskatchewan Flag. During his visit Anthony was able to meet Percy Schmeiser from Bruno, Sask., the only surviving member of the committee that selected the flag design.
It is an interesting story on how the committee narrowed the 4,025 entries down to one. The entries were put into groups; ones with flowers, ones with grain elevators, ones with wheat, etc. From there they received input from the public. Most people chose the symbol of wheat. With that, the committee brought it from 4,025 down to ten. Anthony actually had two of his designs in the top ten.
The flag is a symbol of pride and respect for the ideals that are a representation of our province. Watching a Saskatchewan Roughrider fan wave a Rider flag demonstrates a very enthusiastic example of Rider pride. In a quieter way, I am often stirred as I see the Saskatchewan flag fly above the Legislative building, thinking of how it represents who we are as the people of Saskatchewan.
The simple design of the southern prairies (yellow) and the northern forests (green) with the Saskatchewan coat of arms and the provincial flower emblem of the Western Red Lily encapsulates our province in its simplest, yet absolute detail. The representation of the fields and the forests speaks indeed of the hardworking, innovative and generous people of Saskatchewan, an identity we can be all proud of.
Thank you to Gail for bringing the history of our Saskatchewan flag to life. On this 50th anniversary, let’s celebrate our flag and the people it represents with pride. In honour of the 50th anniversary, we invite you to stop at our office this Friday (September 20th) 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. to commemorate this special event. You can find us at 326 High Street West in Moose Jaw.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
