Canada, Red Ensign, Unofficial National Flag, 1870s, Four Provinces Badge.
This large, machine-sewn, wool Canadian Red Ensign is an example of a Four Provinces variant. Unofficially adopted sometime after Confederation in 1867. The badge represents Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The badge is appropriate for the years 1868 to 1870 when Canada had only four provinces. From the beginning the red ensign was a popular and visible expression of Canadian nationality even while the British Union Flag remained Canada's official flag.
Starting in the1870s when Manitoba was admitted to the Canadian confederation, Canadians began to unofficially modify the badge to include the new province, perhaps emulating their neighbor to the south, the United States, who added a star to their flag for each new state. In 1871 British Columbia joined, and in 1874 Prince Edward Island raised the provincial count to seven, where it remained until 1892.
In 1892 the British Admiralty granted Canadian vessels the right to deface the red ensign with a Canadian Badge. However, it was not a seven province badge which was made official but rather a four province badge appropriate to 1868. While the preferred Canadian ensign had only four badges, Canadian manufacturers continued to bow to popular preference and manufacture flags with five and seven badges well into the 20th century.
This Four Province flag is also crowned, perhaps indicating some official or governmental use. The crown employed is a stylized Victorian or State Crown popular during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 to 1901); and it was previously thought that this flag dated to the 1892 -1901 era. However, in February in 2010 a nearly identical flag was auctioned as Lot 49 by Sotheby's of Toronto. The flag was authenticated by the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Montreal as one of the first Canadian flags from 1868. It was auctioned for an astonishing CDN $117,500. As a result, this flag is being reevaluated.
The flag is inscribed C.W. Fraser, likely a former owner.
Provenance: Acquired by Private Treaty at Bay Area Militaria (BAM) show in May of 2008.
ZFC Significant Flag
Sources
Canadian Red Ensign, Wikipedia, 5 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Red_Ensign
Fraser , Alister B., The Flags of Canada, 5 October 2011, from:
http://www.fraser.cc/FlagsCan/
Canada's first and last flags on display at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, 28/06/2006, Canadian Museum of Civilization, 5 October 2011, from:
http://www.civilization.ca/media/news/canadas-first-and-last-flags-on-display-at-the-canadian-museum-of-civilization/
Lot 46, Canadian School, Important Canadian Art, Sotheby's, 8 October 2011, from: http://www.sothebys.com/en/catalogues/ecatalogue.html/2010/important-canadian-art-t00136#/r=/en/ecat.fhtml.T00136.html+r.m=/en/ecat.lot.T00136.html/46/
Imperial State Crown, Wikipedia, 5 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_State_Crown
St Edward's Crown, Wikipedia, 5 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Edward%27s_Crown
Image Source
Zaricor Flag Collection
