Canadian pale

In heraldry and vexillology, a Canadian pale is a centre band of a vertical triband flag (a pale in heraldry) that covers half the length of a flag, rather than a third as in most triband designs.

The name was suggested by Sir Conrad Swan, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant (a heraldic office in Britain), and first used by Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada proclaiming the new Canadian flag on 28 January 1965.

[1] The classic Canadian pale is a square central panel occupying half of a flag with 1:2 proportions.

However, vexillological usage applies it to any central band that is half the width of the flag, even if this renders it non-square.

The Canadian pale is a popular feature of sub-national, civic and personal heraldry from Canada developed after 1965.