Give the Gift of Being a Bonnie Bee: cgpgrey.substack.com/subscrib... Grey Reads The Fir Tree: cgpgrey.substack.com/p/grey-r... Grey Grades the Territory Flags: cgpgrey.substack.com/p/us-ter...
As someone living in the Yukon I would like to point out that the slightly off dimensions of the Yukon flag is the most Yukon thing possible. That should have been an extra point for an inside joke
As a Canadian who can't really drop extra money on RU-vid memberships, it's really nice to get this as a Christmas gift. Merry Christmas Grey, thanks for an amazing gift
The Inukshuk on the Nunavut flag is even better when you consider the fact that Nunavut means "Our land" in Inuktitut. So the Inukshuk helps guide the people back to their home! The red on the Inukshuk represents Canada as a whole. And blue and gold were chosen to represent the riches of land, sea, and sky. Over 800 submissions were received for the Nunavut flag, and these submissions were reviewed and winnowed by a committee made up of artists and local elders who chose ten finalists. From the symbols and colors of these ten finalists, five draft designs of the flag were developed. They were assisted in drafting these by local Inuit artist Andrew Qappik. Andrew Qappik also helped create Nunavut's coat of arms. Again, blue and gold symbolizes the riches of the land. In chief is a representation of both the midnight sun and the North Star. And to the left of the Inukshuk is a qulliq, a stone lamp representing the warmth of home and community. The caribou and narwhal represent sustenance and natural resources of the land and sea. They stand on a compartment with Arctic poppies, dwarf fireweed, and Arctic heather, alongside an iceberg. At the bottom it says "Our Land, Our Strength".
As a Newfie, not only am I always going to see our flag as a space-age banner forevermore, I also love that we manage to fit between ranks...just like we do timezones!
As someone from Vancouver, BC holding an umbrella made me laugh out loud. And even as a Canadian flag nerd, I get Ontario and Manitoba mixed up all the time 😂
I know I am biased... as a Canadian... but the Canadian flag really is a masterpiece in flag design. Simple. Iconic. Unique. Stands out. Clear Message. And all while still looking really nice.
Alberta was actually settled in large part by Americans, a mix of Americans and central Europeans. Alberta is also where the Social Gospel got its footing in Canada and led directly to the NDP
I never would have thought of the newfoundland flag as being like a galactic banner for a spacefaring empire. I always thought of it as being the fisherman's union jack. Thanks for bringing forth a new light!
I love it when Grey finds a flag that is precisely the right mix of "charming" and "absolute disaster" that he's able to just appreciate the madness of it.
I think we (BC) should go back to an earlier draft of our flag, where the setting sun was above the Union Jack. Just stick it to them now. To quote a king possessed by a wizard: “(the British) have no power here”
5:53 As someone from British Columbia, I can not believe you put it so high with how busy this flag is. Though perhaps my dislike of it comes from being made to draw it in social studies classes in school which unexpectedly was pure torture.
Tbf, I really like Nova Scotia's flag, albeit I am Scottish. But it's quite a smart way to incorporate both the Saltire and the Lion Rampant flags, both of which are still popularly used in Scotland, without just copying the Scottish Saltire completely. Genuinely just a neat flag that doesn't do anything wrong. Even the Lion Rampant's inclusion seems to have been done tastefully, kind of reminding me of how Portugal incorporated it's cost of arms.
Nunavut really was underrated in the video. It's a striking, very recognizable design. It's simple enough that anyone could draw it, and there are no words. It follows all the rules he set up in the American State flags video. I think the only reason it was put in B tier because he wanted a narwall. You can't rate something for what it isn't. Yes, a narwall would be cool, but Nunavut has a stunning flag. Should be S tier.
As someone from Prince Edward Island, I was a little bit upset with the grade he gave us, but I understand why after thinking about it. And I appreciated the apology (and laughed) he gave us for being too harsh in the end!!!
The reason why Ontario and Manitoba's ensign flags were only made "official" after the maple leaf was adopted was because the powers at be in the two provinces believed that the mid-20th century Canadian trend of flag redesigns were slighting the monarchy and their British history, which was very important to English-speaking Canada at the time. So the two provinces passed legislation stating that they were not going to replace their ensigns. Ontario choosing this route makes sense, as they were a very conservative English-speaking province at the time, but Manitoba is a bit interesting since there is a large French population in the province that presumably had no love for the British monarchs. I guess the English majority held the balance of power so that's all that mattered.
Ontario was part of the initial french colonies, so it has a french speaking population too. As for why that didn't do much in either province, there were a bunch of assimilation policies against the use of french, so it's not like they had much influence. There was also the deportation of Acadians in what's now the maritimes. Manitoba also has the added layer that a significant portion of the french speaking population was métis, who were also discriminated against for their indigenous ancestry.
Joke is, both province always were super French speaking, more than most. It’s because they had such large French minorities that they were so pro British.
@@andrewweitzman4006 As an Albertan who was born in Saskatchewan, I Envy the timeless classic that is the flag of Quebec, with its tasteful two tone simplicity, drawing on distinct heritage, and easily being the best provincial flag in Canada.
As a Torontonian, I just *LOVED* how Ontario seemed so nonpulsed there, with her Timmies cup and her cellphone. VERY Toronto...which is fitting, since the rest of Ontario thinks that Toronto gets too much attention over the rest of the province.
“Trying to track down where it really came from was a mess that went nowhere…” Why, that sounds like the perfect subject for the next 20-minute “someone dead ruined my life” video!
I wish the franco-ontarian flag had gotten a shout-out, it's got the fleur-de-lys of the French, the trillium of Ontario, the green of the summer and the white of the snow. Pretty, simple, and clear message. It's underrated!
not crazy about the half/half split but it's not a bad flag, maybe in that C++ tier. Probably similar to the Acadian Flag which has a crisp tri-color of the French flag, with a much better blue, with the Star of Mary in the blue.
Giving Québec the S tier is everything that needs to be said, they never embraced or conformed to their British overlords and kept all their traditions. Québec is a true legend across the board.
As a Newfoundlander who tried to find the origin of the tricolour, I know the pain! Pre confederation history here can be rather messy sometimes, it could probably make an interesting video
I was bummed by his low grade for the current Newfoundland provincial flag. It's my personal favorite, er, favourite. (It's also the province with my favourite people.)
Dear Grey, Please make a tier list of all the national flags of the world. I truly cannot get enough flag rankings. Sincerely, Your most loyal Bonnie Bee 🐝🖤
I don't think it's going to happen because you would have to choose which country to include and that would be a political nightmare. For example: do you include Taiwan as an independent country?
The subtle _Lord of the Rings_ book designs in the book case behind you! Genius!! I love these classroom flag videos. I feel like I could watch a full series of them.
Aww. I'm so glad you put this one up as a Christmas present! As an American, I know very little about the Canadian flags and it was awesome to learn more about them! (Some of the designs are COOL, too.) And it's all snowy and cozy, and that shot of all the Province characters having a happy snowball fight outside...it's just this nice mix of adorable and educational. S-tier. Also I agree with you: more narwhal needed. :P
A quick note on the Australian state flags since they were briefly mentioned. The reason why the orange flag doesn't match the rest of the Jack and Arms design is because that is the flag of the Northern Territory and not a state flag. Australia has 6 states which all share the Jack and Arms, and 2 territories which both use the Southern Cross constellation on the left with the coat of arms on the right. Look up the flag of the Australian Capital Territory to see what I mean.
ohhhh that's clever. Making the federal territory flags different in design structure to the state flags. Then there's the Aboriginal flag, which is probs cleaner design-wise and a lot nicer looking than the state flags with their crests and such. The main country flag does a much nicer job using the stars to fill space
I’d much prefer all the States adopt a similar design to the territories though. Jettison the Union Jack and replace it with a southern cross, state colours and state badge.
The British Columbia flag is so busy with its design, but it's so busy, it ends up looking wicked cool. Heck, it's beyond busy. It's like the honest work of someone who wish pain upon you. And the stretched-out Union flag at the top is something! The four wavy white and three wavy blue lines symbolize the province's location between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. The setting sun represents the fact that British Columbia is Canada's westernmost province. The image of the continuously rising sun refers to the provincial motto splendor sine occasu (Latin for 'splendour without diminishment'), suggesting the idea that the sun never sets (on the British Empire). And yes, the Canadian flag is absolutely one of the best with its iconic design that stands out with its maple leaf. The reason Canada ended up with that flag is during the Suez Crisis, the Egyptian government objected to Canadian peacekeeping forces on the grounds that the Canadian flag had the Union flag. So Lester B. Pearson wanted to create a flag that was unmistakably Canadian. A flag designed by Alan Beddoe had blue stripes on the ends and three leaves, while George Stanley's design with red stripes and one leaf was inspired by the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada...and the rest was history.
George Stanley was living in my hometown when he designed the Maple Leaf. Unfortunately it's raising there was greeted with boos, supposedly. A couple of years back a statue of him sitting on a bench was unveiled downtown.
Je le déteste, mais à cause de ses significations d’allégeance au pape et à la monarchie française - je suis républicaine! On va pas se séparer de la monarchie anglaise pour s'allier à une autre monarchie (et en plus une monarchie qui n'existe même plus!)
@@Danger_N00dle It pretty much considered to be perfect in vexilogical circles! If you search around a bit you should find quite a few videos on the topic.
As a BCer, I was so ready for our flag to hit F tier, but when you called it "The Maryland of Canadian Flags", I smiled wide. Home province pride, even if out flag is just... too much.
As an Albertan, I agree with your assessment. I have a fondness for it because I remember learning about the symbolism of the shield (the mountains, foothills, prairies, and the wheat fields, all underneath St. George's Cross) at an early age, and it greatly increased my appreciation for the variety and beauty of our scenery. I think there was a way to play into this concept with a different, visually striking design that doesn't feel like everyone in the decision process phoned it in.
We do have an alternative flag, I looked it up when I saw this video as Bonney Bee, it's light blue and pink to represent our official provincial flower. I also discovered that we have an official anthem which unfortunately sounds like an infomercial jingle mixed with a Hannah Montana song.
The Alberta government of the late 1960s clearly didn't understand that there's a time and a place each for a flag, crest, heraldry, coat of arms, and it's kind of unfortunate (though they clearly aren't alone there). We could so easily have something better, there's so many recognizable icons you _could_ design a flag around.
As a graphic designer, I have a differing opinion. I think the Alberta flag is rather well-designed with a balance of striking yet harmonious colors, unlike many other flags. The blue background helps draw the center of focus into the sky of the seal, and the English flag above where it serves as the province's principle. The line-weight and overall detail on the seal is just right without being too simple or complex. Most importantly, you get the feeling that you don't need to know anything about Alberta to understand the symbolism at play, instead of relying on convoluted shapes or adornments with layers of obfuscated symbolism.
@@879PC I didn't know about the anthem, but that tracks! I also haven't seen the flag you describe. The only alternate flag I know of is the Franco-Albertan flag, which I think would have ranked quite well among the flags in this video.
This is the greatest Christmas gift as a Canadian. Thanks Grey! Also Quebec deserves that S tier and then some. Beautiful flag for a beautiful province. Love from Saskatchewan❤
So Grey, you actually missed one of the better flags. While Newfoundland and Labrador collectively have a flag, Labrador itself has their own, separate flag that they are quite proud of (and rightfully so).
I think the Newfoundland and Labrador flag should be a B tier. It is a lot of triangle designs but the geometric shapes makes it very distinctive, almost to the level achieved with New Brunswick and British Columbia's mad collection of symbols, flags, and geometry superimposed on each other to the point of beauty. Also, please grade Ontario's official francophone flag, it is much much better than the provincial flag with its distinctive Ontario government logo representation of the provincial flower the trillium. If one got rid of the fleur-de-lis on green background and replaced it with a stylized maple leaf, it would be A or S tier.
As a Québécois, I'm glad that you gave the Québec's flag a S tier, because it surely deserved it. I'm also glad that you include us the least in a video about Canada. Rien à redire.
I know this isn't a flag idea, but here is a cool idea for another spin off series: Grading movie posters! An idea to talk about cinema, the development of movies across the years, and what makes people interested in a movie. This could be done with the top 10 best/most memorable movies of each decade (decided via poll or movie listings); and be ranked on which looks the coolest, what makes people eager to go attend the movie without any context about it, and which makes them long-living.
For New Brunswick, the ship is referenced to the Marco Polo which was built in Saint John New Brunswick in 1851. The ship was known to be one of the fastest ships during it operational period and served as the pride/symbol of the ship building industry of New Brunswick, which was one of its primary industries during the 19th and early 20th century.
I mean, I dont want to be rude, but they all look the same, hahaha. For real, one color in background for one symbol. And the fact that they are ALL like that, it just doesnt let any of them stand out.
OMG Grey, this video has me excited for 3 reasons: 1) I LOVE how you have The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings on the shelf behind your head. That's an S Tier super-sneaky easter egg! 2) I'm Canadian (bonus thanks for giving British Columbia an A) 3) It's 2 days until Christmas, so thank you for this video gift Merry Christmas Grey & Happy New Year! Thanks for entertaining me since *checks notes*.... 2010?!
@@catoctober8005 Me as a Dutch person can still not really get that bright idea by the Eurovision team. Like how does Australia help promote European fraternization with the help of singing together?
I’m literally drinking a Tim Hortons coffee while watching Ontario drink “maybe Tim’s” in a CGP Grey video….. this is the best Christmas gift you could have gotten me!
I did too, but they made me wonder about the rest of the books on the shelf. They're all detailed to a similar degree; enough that they feel like they're also references to real books, but I don't recognize any of them.
I love the Hobbit+LOTR hiding on the shelf as a little Easter egg. Easy to miss but those are by far the best editions cover design wise so I had to show some love ❤
As a lifelong British Columbian who has always love-hated our flag…I’m still proud we beat out most of the other guys. And I’m in total agreement that Québec has the best flag design of all the provinces/territories in Canada. It really is beautiful! (also you get honorary Canadian brownie points for calling them “freezies”)
He had to give Quebec the highest score. Can you imagine the outcry if they had not been distinctly different from the rest of the provinces. Why they might bluster and posture, and be wholly ineffective...again.