Amid much controversy, the Parliament of Canada in 1964 voted to adopt a new design for the Canadian flag and issued a call for submissions.

[3] Under the leadership of Prime Minister Lester Pearson, resolutions recommending the new design were passed by the House of Commons on December 15, 1964, and by the Senate two days later.

[6] National Flag of Canada Day was instituted in 1996 by an Order in Council from Governor General Roméo LeBlanc, on the initiative of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

[7] At the first Flag Day ceremony in Hull, Quebec, Chrétien was confronted by demonstrators against proposed cuts to the unemployment insurance system, and while walking through the crowd he was grabbed by the neck and pushed aside a protester who had approached him.

[9] In 2025, five former prime ministers: Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, wrote an open letter calling on all Canadians to fly the flag as a sign of national unity during the ongoing trade dispute with the United States under Donald Trump.