Province Got a Brand New Flag- June 29th

One of the greatest aspects parts of touring the province is finding little nuggets of history that you never knew about before. While visiting Ponteix on a very hot afternoon we were surprised to find a flag in the Town’s Council Chambers that we had never seen before- but by its appearance was distinctively Saskatchewan. It was a bicolour of red over green. At the hoist was a single stalk of wheat and in the upper fly, the provincial arms.
 
Saskatchewan Liberal Vice President Evan Ozirny and I debated the identity of the flag. I maintained that it must be an old Saskatchewan flag that predates our current one; he believed it was the Town’s flag. This was the third debate we had on our trip so far, and neither of us would allow too much time to pass until we knew the answer.
 
Speedy research by Mayor Etienette Binette would prove that I was correct. We had found Saskatchewan’s Diamond Jubilee Flag.
 
As it turns out, in 1964 the Saskatchewan government organized a competition for a distinctive flag in anticipation of the 60th anniversary of the Province. It was recommended that the colours of the provincial coat of arms, granted by royal warrant in 1906, be included. The winning flag was selected out of 241 entries and was designed by Sister Imelda of St. Angela’s Convent at Prelate. The green represented luxuriant growth while the red suggested the fires which swept the Prairies in the early days before cultivation.
 
The Diamond Jubilee Flag of Saskatchewan first officially hoisted on January 31, 1965. The use of this flag was soon extended to the Centennial celebrations of 1967. For these events, the flag was widely flown as if it was the provincial flag, and indeed, its sponsors hoped that it would, in fact, become the provincial flag.
 
However, the flag did not gain the acceptance its promoters had hoped and another contest was held. The winning entry, which was chosen from among 4025 submissions, became the provincial flag on Monday, September 22, 1969. Like its predecessor it is a bicolour, but of green, representing the northern woods, over yellow, representing the southern grain fields. The provincial shield now occupies the position of honour in the upper hoist, while the provincial flower, the western red lily, occupies the fly. The new flag was designed by a teacher named Anthony Drake in Hodgeville, only 89 km from Ponteix.
 
My correct assertion that this was a provincial flag represented my hat trick in debates with Vice President Ozirny. Two days earlier, I had correctly declared that it was the BC Liberals, not the BC Socreds, who formed opposition in BC’s 1991 election. A day earlier I had also correctly identified the quickest route to Saskatchewan’s only winery in the Cypress Hills.