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Flag of Canada

The flag of Canada is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. It has become the predominant and most recognizable national symbol of Canada. It was adopted in 1965 to replace the Union Flag for most official purposes, although the Canadian Red Ensign had also been unofficially used since the 1860s and approved by a 1945 Order in Council. In 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed a committee to discuss these issues, sparking a serious debate about a flag change. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George Stanley, based on the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada, was chosen. It made its first appearance on February 15, 1965, a date now celebrated annually as National Flag of Canada Day. Other flags, usually containing the maple leaf motif in some fashion, have been created for use by Canadian officials, government bodies, and military forces. (Full article...)

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Detail of a frog on a banknote
Detail of a frog on a banknote
Map accompanying the novel Mundus Alter et Idem

Mundus Alter et Idem (Another World and Yet the Same) is a satirical dystopian novel written by the English writer and bishop Joseph Hall around 1605. In the novel, the narrator takes a voyage in the ship Fantasia through the southern seas, visiting the lands of Crapulia, Viraginia, Moronia, and Lavernia (populated by gluttons, nags, fools, and thieves, respectively). These locations feature on this map, which accompanies the novel.

Map credit: Joseph Hall

On this day

July 1: Eid al-Mubahalah (Shia Islam, 2024); Canada Day (1867); Republic Day in Ghana (1960); Independence Day in Rwanda (1962)

Brown 10-centime Belgian epaulette
Brown 10-centime Belgian epaulette
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