Rejected flag designs

On a new stamp and souvenir sheet to be issued Feb. 15, Canada Post marks the 50th anniversary of its flag.

While the permanent-rate postage stamp and the $5 souvenir sheet  show the familiar maple leaf flag, the first-day cover from Canada Post pictures a few of the rejected flag designs from the more than 2,600 submissions received. The Library and Archives Canada houses the rejected submissions, and created a Flickr page featuring some of them.

George Stanley created the design that was selected for the flag, described by Canada Heritage as a "red maple leaf on a white square between two red borders." The new flag was raised for the first time Feb. 15, 1965, on Parliament Hill, and, in 1966, Feb. 15 was declared as Flag Day in Canada.

The souvenir sheet in the Flag 50th Anniversary issue is printed on fabric, a first for Canada Post. 

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