What is the significance of Confederation in Canadian symbols?

Confederation, the union of British North American colonies on July 1, 1867 to form the Dominion of Canada, generated a set of distinctly Canadian symbols that still anchor the country's self-image. The Constitution Act, 1867, originally called the British North America Act, was the founding statute. Sir John A. Macdonald became the first Prime Minister, and Viscount Monck was the first Governor General.

Confederation symbols emerged in waves. The Canadian Red Ensign, used informally from the 1870s and officially from 1945 to 1965, carried the Royal Union Flag in the canton and a shield with the arms of the four founding provinces. The Macdonald-era Great Seal of Canada, struck by London engraver Joseph Shepherd Wyon in 1869, depicts an allegorical figure of Britannia welcoming Canada into the imperial family. The Canadian coat of arms granted in 1921 included floral emblems of the founding peoples.

Specific Confederation-era artifacts and sites are honoured today. The Charlottetown Conference of September 1864 is commemorated by Province House in Prince Edward Island and by the Confederation Centre of the Arts (1964) marking the centennial. The Quebec Conference of October 1864 produced the 72 Resolutions now displayed at Library and Archives Canada. The London Conference of late 1866 and the British North America Act passed by Westminster on March 29, 1867 are honoured by the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill, lit by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson on January 1, 1967.

The Father of Confederation portraits hang in the Library of Parliament and on Canadian currency: Macdonald has appeared on the ten-dollar note from 1971 to 2018, and George-Étienne Cartier was on the older five-dollar note. Each year on Canada Day citizens gather at Parliament Hill, in provincial capitals, and at Confederation Park in Ottawa to celebrate the symbols this 1867 union brought into being.