The flag of Nova Scotia consists of a blue saltire on a white field defaced with the royal arms of Scotland. Adopted in 1929 after a royal warrant was issued, it has been the flag of the province since January 19 of that year. It is a banner of arms modelled after the province's coat of arms. Utilized as a pennant since 1858, it was officially recognized under primary legislation as Nova Scotia's flag in 2013. When flown with the flags of other Canadian provinces and the national flag, it is fourth in the order of precedence.

History

Colonists from the Kingdom of Scotland first settled in modern-day Nova Scotia after 1621, when (The sixth King of Scots and the first King of England and Ireland to bear that name) conferred the land to William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, via royal charter and gave it the Latin name for "New Scotland". Four years later, the colony was granted its own coat of arms by Charles I, with the emblem first recorded at the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh on May 28, 1625. Towards the end of that decade, the Scots established two short-lived settlements which were ultimately unsuccessful. Both the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England sought to take advantage of the failure of the Scottish colony and the territory subsequently changed hands between those two kingdoms repeatedly throughout the remainder of the 17th and into the early 18th centuries. The Peace of Utrecht in 1713 saw the Kingdom of France permanently relinquish mainland Nova Scotia to the recently created Kingdom of Great Britain. however vexillologist Whitney Smith opines that these ambiguous accounts are doubtful. Nova Scotia later acquiesced to a federation with the other colonies of New Brunswick and the United Province of Canada in 1867 under the British North America Act to form the Dominion of Canada. However, the College of Arms, the heraldic authority in England, was apparently unaware of the earlier grant of arms to Nova Scotia in 1625 by the Lyon Court, the heraldic authority in Scotland. Consequently, Queen Victoria issued a Royal Warrant on May 26 of the following year, conferring a different coat of arms on the new province. This consisted of a salmon and three thistles. It was the first flag in the overseas Commonwealth to be approved by royal charter – and is the oldest provincial flag in Canada. However, it is not the first Canadian provincial flag to be officially adopted, a distinction held by the flag of Quebec, which was approved by the Parliament of Quebec on March 7, 1950, two years after the order in council was announced.

In a 2001 online survey conducted by the North American Vexillological Association, Nova Scotia's flag ranked within the top sixth of state, provincial and territorial flags from Canada, the United States, and select current and former territories of the United States. It finished in 12th place out of 72, and placed second among Canadian flags after Quebec. Twelve years later, the flag was officially recognized as the flag of the province under an Act of Legislature. This came about after an eleven-year-old student from Canso uncovered this aberration while conducting research for a school project. Unlike the flags of British Columbia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island – which are also provincial flags that are banner of arms – Nova Scotia's was never recognized as such under a provincial statute. The student contacted the member of the Legislative Assembly representing her electoral district, Jim Boudreau, who consulted with the Legislative Library and other government bodies to ascertain that such a law was not on the books.

{| class="wikitable"

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| #C8102E The royal arms epitomize feudal times in Scotland and how this sowed the seeds of the province's constancy as a society. The shield is also identical to the royal arms of Scotland. When flown together with the flag of Canada and the other provincial and territorial flags, the flag of Nova Scotia is fourth in the order of precedence (after the national flag and, in descending order of precedence, the flags of Ontario and Quebec, and ahead of New Brunswick). Even though Nova Scotia entered into Confederation on the same date as those three provinces (July 1, 1867), it is placed third among the group since its size of population at the time was the third-largest.

See also

  • Symbols of Nova Scotia
  • Coat of arms of Nova Scotia

References

  • Arms and flag of Nova Scotia in the online Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges