Carry it! Fly it! Use it!

Stuart Ash's 1965 symbol for the 1967 Canadian Centennial.

This post is supported by LogoArchive – The home of historical logos. Discover over 4000 of history’s greatest designs from the world’s finest designers. Always find the logo inspiration you need for your next project here.

---

The approval of the Federation Act of 1867 saw the last legal tie between Canada and Great Britain dissolved, forming a new sovereign state. One hundred years later, Canada would celebrate this moment with a year long programme of cultural activities. Planning and funding allocation for these began in 1961, and would range from small one-off events to larger improvement projects such as the construction of municipal arenas and parks.

To unify these diverse activities and initiates, local and nationally, a symbol was needed. This initially was sought through a design competition, however, this failed to deliver an appropriate result. A different approach was needed.

In 1965 the Federal Government of Canada turned to design firm and typographers Cooper & Beatty for assistance. The firm drafted a brief, which was approved by the government, outlining all the requirements for the symbol. These included the use of a maple leaf (as a representation of Canada), eleven components that should symbolise the nation's geography at the time (ten provinces plus Canada North), and a chance to explore other potential design elements.

A young Stuart Ash got the job at Cooper & Beatty through a previous apprenticeship. In his own words and recollection, the final design took just an hour to come up with but six months to prepare for use. His design was a maple leaf composed of eleven equilateral triangles. This marked one of the first official uses of the maple leaf as a national icon.

The maple leaf was already a national symbol (it was included in the coat of arms of Ontario and the coat of arms of Quebec in 1868, and was added to the Canadian coat of arms in 1921), however, in the run up to the centennial celebration a new Canadian flag would be designed. A simplified maple leaf and red and white bars were combined to form a flag and became a powerful unifier for what was described at this time as a politically divided Canada. The significance of the maple leaf, used as the centennial logo, cannot be understated. The geometry, and the symbolism and composition of eleven triangles developed this into a unique interpretation for the centennial.

Canada is composed of ten provinces and two northern territories. This Confederation was represented in Ash’s Centennial symbol by eleven equilateral triangles. Ten represented the provinces and one, at the apex, represented the great Canadian North.

The design manual demonstrated how the symbol could be geometrically constructed in any school classroom using basic tools. This ease of reproducibility gave it a common sense of ownership.

Different versions were created to accommodate the vast number of applications. The full colour version captured and further expressed the diversity of Canada’s provinces. Solid single colour versions were used for provincial flags. Outline versions made it easy to engrave. And different weights of negative space between the triangles afforded the symbol a flexibility when it came to scaling it up and down. Other versions also emphasised the centennial year.

A key requirement would be the capacity for the logo to be used in many ways, far more than a corporate logo. The symbol was placed on everything that was made in 1967.

Perhaps the best articulation of the extent of application would be from a advert from the time which read: Put it on a banner, use it on your products, and in your advertising, engrave it on your stationery, paint it on your vehicles, wear it on your lapel, display it on your cartons, hang it in your plant or office, stick it on your pay envelopes, stencil it on your coffee cups. Carry it. Fly it. But above all Use it.

---

Thank you for subscribing to Logo Histories. If you enjoy reading this you may also enjoy these resources from the same team:

Brand Archive – Research tool for brand designers.
LogoArchive Website – Searchable modernist logo archive & research tool.
LogoArchive Shop – Vintage design books & LogoArchive Zines.
BP&O – Contemporary design editorial.