News   Dec 12, 2025
Year in Review: Amexon's Residences at Central Park in 2025
 762     0 
News   Dec 12, 2025
Seven-Tower TOC Proposed Beside Clarkson GO in Mississauga
 1.7K     6 
News   Dec 12, 2025
VAST Industrial Corp. Announces Acquisition of The Whalen Company
 828     0 

Ontario Flag needs replacing

If anyone wants to propose a flag design, you should watch this TED Talk and adhere the the 5 principles it preaches:
  1. Keep it simple, so simple a child can draw it from memory.
  2. Use meaningful symbolism.
  3. Use two to three basic colors.
  4. No lettering or seals of any kind.
  5. Be distinctive or be related.
 
44 North said:
Colorado's I think is a bit tacky, just because it has a "C" emblazoned within it. But like your idea of putting Pearson's vertical bars as horizontal to mimic the north and south waters forming our border.

What do you guys think of Ontario's Coat of Arms...would that be appropriate to fit in a flag? I just started sketching something out, and I really like the crest. Think it could work. Having trouble figuring whether a trillium should be included. Also would a medicine wheel make a good de facto representation of First Nations people? Was thinking the flag of the Iroquois Confederacy, which could arguably tie into US-Can relations, but I guess that excludes FN people from the rest of the prov.

*k, sketched this out. Does the crest and organic shapes of animals make it too busy? One thing I like about Canada's flag is the geometric simplicity. A kid could draw it, and it's easily digitized.

View attachment 164330
Click to expand...
Still too busy. Maybe just the three maple leafs in the middle.
 
DonValleyRainbow said:
If anyone wants to propose a flag design, you should watch this TED Talk and adhere the the 5 principles it preaches:
  1. Keep it simple, so simple a child can draw it from memory.
  2. Use meaningful symbolism.
  3. Use two to three basic colors.
  4. No lettering or seals of any kind.
  5. Be distinctive or be related.
Click to expand...

Asking a child to draw the Saudi Arabian flag would be fun to watch.

AoD
 
Some Canadian examples of flags (official and non-official) I think would meet the 5 principles:

Nunavut
Flag_of_Nunavut.svg


Labrador
Flag_of_Labrador.svg


Western Canada
Flag_of_Western_Canada.png


Scarborough
Flag_of_Scarborough%2C_Ontario.svg


Hamilton
Flag_of_Hamilton.svg


Calgary
Flag_of_Calgary%2C_Alberta.svg
 
Yes my flag is quite busy. I kinda like the animals from the coat of arms, and was trying to keep it in line with level of details found on other province flags. Which is a reason I wouldn't fully adhere to that list of five principles. Having said that am picturing something like that Pearson Pennant, but with a simplified trillium in the centre and two leaves on the side.

edit: Now having watched the TEDtalk I get what he's saying. Still though I really enjoyed looking at maps with complex shields and small details when I was a kid. Sure I couldn't draw it easily. But doesn't mean 6yo me didn't didn't like what I was seeing in Britannica's flag section.

Made a few new ones with an attempt to be simple. These are all based on my simplificiation of the trillium (it's been reduced to a series of basic geometric shapes: circles and triangles). Also the maple leaf was lifted from the Pearson Pennant. It's rigid and geometric, which I like. Wondering if the trillium is a bit polluted since it's so tied to government. Perhaps something else like eastern white pine, or common loon, could work well instead.

44N-simplified-Ont-flag-1.png

44N-simplified-Ont-flag-2.png

44N-simplified-Ont-flag-5.png

44N-simplified-Ont-flag-6.png
 
Yeah they're no good. But I really don't think there's anything that can be good, or rather something that could get 80% support. Even 50% support. What would it be? Simple, ok so two colours. Oh well, how many flags have that. In a vertical or horizontal format, maybe diagonal, doesn't matter. So three colours, same thing. A circle or star, well those have been done too. The first point in the criteria of great flags is to be simple, third is 2-3 colours, and the last point is to be distinctive. Considering how many flags there are in the world a lot of this seems to be a self-contradictory fool's game. Or at least it seems that way.

On that topic I don't like Toronto's flag. Metro was good but a tad bit complicated for a kid to draw. Current one...forms a T, and shaped like city hall. A bit tacky. Anyway cuz I like playing around with geometric shapes, what about this. It's a white background, with blue rectangles that simulate the five Great Lakes to the south, and Arctic Sea to the north (w/ indents for Hudson Bay and James Bay). With the white space between maybe something down the middle, likely red. Circle, square, diamond, maybe Cdn flag.

44N-water-themed-flag-1.png


44N-water-themed-flag-3-1.png


44N-water-themed-flag-4.png
 
DonValleyRainbow said:
If anyone wants to propose a flag design, you should watch this TED Talk and adhere the the 5 principles it preaches:
  1. Keep it simple, so simple a child can draw it from memory.
  2. Use meaningful symbolism.
  3. Use two to three basic colors.
  4. No lettering or seals of any kind.
  5. Be distinctive or be related.
Click to expand...
If you want simple, then be inspired by the Cleveland Browns. There "logo" is just blank orange with nothing on it.
 
It looks a little contrived - e.g. why the second box around the maple leaves - and the maple leaves look like an afterthought that would be better off not being there.

AoD
 
44 North said:
Colorado's I think is a bit tacky, just because it has a "C" emblazoned within it. But like your idea of putting Pearson's vertical bars as horizontal to mimic the north and south waters forming our border.

What do you guys think of Ontario's Coat of Arms...would that be appropriate to fit in a flag? I just started sketching something out, and I really like the crest. Think it could work. Having trouble figuring whether a trillium should be included. Also would a medicine wheel make a good de facto representation of First Nations people? Was thinking the flag of the Iroquois Confederacy, which could arguably tie into US-Can relations, but I guess that excludes FN people from the rest of the prov.

*k, sketched this out. Does the crest and organic shapes of animals make it too busy? One thing I like about Canada's flag is the geometric simplicity. A kid could draw it, and it's easily digitized.

View attachment 164330
Click to expand...
I kind of like this one - but remove that multi-coloured circle and put back the St. George red cross, or add a king highway type crown in this space.
I might go with a slightly darker shade of blue.
With the animals, this is a bit more complex of a design, so the complex trillium (trillia?) are needed.
hwy18A.gif
 
JasonParis said:
This was posted on this very thread a few years back. If the colours were a bit richer gold/green, I think it would be perfect.

View attachment 164606
Click to expand...

I get what you mean about changing the colours to richer green on that. Feel like it might be hard to have yellow and green side by side without a buffer, but other flags do it to okay.

With the 60s era trillium I'm not a fan of it being included. Stumbled on an Ontario Vexillology page with lots of user ideas and seemingly most contain that trillium. I think it works well as it was designed - within the rounded square box. It was harmony. Taking it out of that isn't all that great imo. Also I think using a gov't logo shouldn't be brought into a flag. The other way 'round is a diff story, but as it stands it's largely a logo tied to a single provincial party.

BurlOak said:
I kind of like this one - but remove that multi-coloured circle and put back the St. George red cross, or add a king highway type crown in this space.
I might go with a slightly darker shade of blue.
With the animals, this is a bit more complex of a design, so the complex trillium (trillia?) are needed.
hwy18A.gif
Click to expand...

The shade of blue is definitely off, would change. The medicine wheel was a quick inclusion, and don't really know the meaning. The animals were a vector image from our coat of arms taken off Wiki, not sure how official it is since I've yet to see an identical one anywhere else. The official gov't one is a lot more detailed, with another gov't version with less detail and all in black. The latter may be a better option for a flag, and could mimic something like Albania. The trillium I think could be simplified to good effect since it's a simple geometric shape. I'm okay with keeping the St George's cross fit in some way. But right now I'd like to see something simple but bold that stands out from many flags. How that could be I have no idea and have yet to see a good one.

Earlier I mentioned using an Eastern White Pine, Ontario's official tree. Stumbled on this: the flag for Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia. Not saying I like this specifically, but if the tree was simplified it could be good. Though it's already been done in this case so that's out the window.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...land.svg/800px-Flag_of_Norfolk_Island.svg.png

800px-Flag_of_Norfolk_Island.svg.png
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top