Designs

The response to the flag debate was overwhelming. Canadians from across the country wrote to express their views to their MPs and to Lester Pearson, John Diefenbaker and Tommy Douglas; the editorial pages of newspapers were filled with commentary on the flag question.

In one two-day period, over 221 letters concerning the flag arrived at John Diefenbaker's office alone. By the time the debate ended, his office had received over 7 linear feet of material.

In addition to their letters and petitions, Canadians by the thousands drew up their own ideas for a distinctive new flag. Many wrote hoping their design might provide the "honourable compromise" necessary to help end the debate some feared would irreparably divide the nation.

Original: watercolour; no address [This design] gives the flags of Quebec and the Jack equal space and prominence - and the Maple Leaf at the bottom will, I think, satisfy the "alien" element. Canada is a complex of ten autonomous areas. This fact should be given expression. The discs do this - they could be replaced by stars. Anyway - it would make a lovely flag, and one that would denote the racial and ethnical origins of the peoples of Canada. It might suggest a way out of the impasse at present. I give it for what it is worth.

"In Miami they call it Dora - here we call it the Flag Debate" Len Norris - The Vancouver Sun; 10 September 1964

	Original: printed; Quebec, August 1964 A project for a Canadian flag showing our origins and representing our different ethnical groups; WHY NOT?
	Original: pencil crayon; Quebec, 1 August 1964 The fleur-de-lis is to remember...the French...The green leaf is our emblem...The brown beaver is [to show] that Canada is a working country with progress.

Original: pencil crayon; no address; n.d. No description given