the Fourth F - Flags

Despite being Britain's very first colony, Newfoundland was the last province to join Canada, in 1949. Its official consolidation with Labrador was not until this century, in 2001, and so the entire province can now boast of 17,000 km of coastline. 

For being independent so long, Newfoundland has had an awful lot of flags. 

If you are really going back to beginning there is the Norse Raven Flag, which was relevant in the context of Newfoundland for a few years around 1000AD.

 

Here is the Governor's flag, with Terra Nova (Portuguese for New Land) inscribed. Why Portuguese? Because they were among the first to fish in Newfoundland's waters, and there are many Portuguese,  Basque, Spanish and French names mingled with English

Then there was the Newfoundland Tricolor, one of the first and only flags that used pink. This was developed when Newfoundland went through its first dally with independence in the late 19th century. It's clearly a riff on the Irish flag, perhaps to wage peace between the English Protestants Irish Roman Catholics that predominated the Island. The green is said to represent Irish shamrock, the white represents the Scottish thistle, and the pink represents the English rose. Newfoundland didn't become a republic so the flag was never officially recognized, but it is seen everywhere, especially neat St. John's, and on tee-shirts and chocolates, mailboxes and votives. 

The Red Ensign waved the longest, having been endorsed by King Charles II in 1674. There is a blue version too, and both existed until 1931, when Britain's Union Jack represented Newfoundland until 1949, when it joined Canada.

Labrador got its own flag in 1974, and a lovely one it is too. Colours represent the snow, the sea and the land, with a sprig of black spruce, to represent the three main groups of people living there - the Inuit, Innu and European settlers.

It was not until 1980 that Newfoundland got a distinctive flag, one that waves currently. It was introduced June 24, Discovery Day, on the anniversary of John Cabot's landing on Newfoundland soil in 1497. White for snow, blue for the sea, red for "human effort" (I take that to mean blood), and the yellow arrow for self-confidence going forward into the future (is yellow really the right colour for that?) 

There is another flag associated with Newfoundland and Labrador that we never did see flying anywhere, the Franco flag, first raised in 1987. It represents France's history and presence on the Island and the sails represent the arrival of common ancestors - yellow is the colour for Acadia. The top sail includes the Labrador tamarack, and the bottom sail includes the Newfoundland pitcher plant.

There you have it. And you thought the history of flags was going to be dull.