The flag of Yukon is a green, white, and blue tricolour with the coat of arms of Yukon at the centre above a wreath of fireweed, the territorial flower. An official flag for Yukon was created during the 1960s, a decade in which the national flag of Canada was chosen, as well as several other provincial flags. The flag of Yukon was officially selected from a territory-wide design competition in 1967, with the winning design adopted on March 1, 1968.

History

The flag of Yukon was officially adopted on March 1, 1968. The flag was chosen from a territory-wide competition as part of Canada's Centennial celebrations of 1967. The competition was sponsored by the Whitehorse branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. A C$100 prize was offered to the winning design. There were a total of 137 submissions with the winning design coming from Yukon College graduate Lynn Lambert. Lambert submitted 10 designs of which one made the final three designs as selected by a committee, with his eventually being named the winner. A prototype design was sent to Ottawa for suitable heraldic description. An expert in Ottawa sent back an amended version of the submitted flag design. The committee in Whitehorse however kept with the original design.

Symbolism

The flag is divided into three coloured panels: Below in the middle of the shield are two wavy lines representing Yukon's rivers on a blue background. Finally at the bottom of the shield are two red triangles representing Yukon's mountains with gold circles in them representing the Yukon's great mineral resources.

Technical description

The flag of Yukon has a flag ratio of 1:2, equivalent to the flag of Canada. The centre white panel is larger by one and a half times the width of each of the other two panels, for a pale ratio of 1 to 1.5 to 1.

Terminology

In flag terminology, the flag is a tricolour, meaning it has three colours, in approximately equal size. However, it may not be considered a true tricolour as it is defaced, containing the coat of arms of Yukon, where a true tricolour contains no additional symbols.

See also

  • Symbols of Yukon
  • Coat of arms of Yukon

References

  • Government of Yukon: The Yukon Flag
  • Yukon Flag at FOTW.net
  • Yukon - Flag
  • Flag of Yukon in the online Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges