deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

A flag with a fascinating history and story. It is not a flag for a place, like a country or state, it is a flag for a people. This is the, what has become known as the Canada Acadian Flag.

Acadians were the descendants of the French who settled in Acadia in the 17th and 18th century. Acadia was located in what is now Eastern Canada’s Maritime Provinces [Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edwards Island, as well as parts of Quebec and down to Maine then back up to Newfoundland.]

Acadians maintained a distinct history and culture. During the Seven years War the British accused the Acadians with siding with the the French. Acadian’s did have a ‘habit’ of becoming friends with and learning from the First Nation People in their area. This made both the British and American’s mad. The Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath to the Queen. Finally, English and American legislators joined forces and conducted what was called ‘The Great Expulsion’.

Most Acadians were sent to British and American colonies where they were enslaved. Those sent to France were recruited by Spain and forced to migrate to Louisiana, where they became the Cajun people speaking a combination of French and Acadian.

In 1847, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published his story “Evangeline” about an Acadian woman searching for her lover during the ‘Great Expulsion’. Finally in 2003 Queen Elizabeth acknowledged the deportation and sorta, kinda, apologized.

The Canada Acadian Flag is the French tricolor with a five pointed gold star on the blue band approximately where the canton would be. The star is for ‘Our Lady of the Sea’ the Mother Mary watching over people of the seas.

The Canada Acadian flag is a simply designed representation of a fascinating culture and history.