Beneath the St. George’s Cross—a nod to the Hudson’s Bay Company—Alberta’s shield and flag are rendered in the province’s official colours since 1984: Alberta Blue and Alberta Gold, representing the sky and the prairies.

The coat of arms of the province of British Columbia featured on its flag originally had the sunset, representing its westernmost geography, in the top half—but since “the sun never sets on the British Empire,” the Union standard was promoted to the top.

When the Maple Leaf flag was adopted as Canada’s emblem in 1965, Manitobans balked. The province chose to retain the heritage of the Red Ensign, amending the flag with the provincial coat of arms.

After the Maple Leaf was adopted as Canada’s national emblem, the parliamentary opposition in New Brunswick was expected move that the province retain the Red Ensign. Louis Robichaud, the province’s first Acadian premier, avoided tensions between the Anglo, French and Acadian populations by secretly commissioning a unique provincial flag.

The strikingly modern take on Newfoundland and Labrador’s flag pays homage to the Union Jack in its blue triangles, the island and the mainland with two red triangles, and a bright future with a gold arrow—which doubles as a sword in tribute to our military sacrifices when flown vertically.

The flag of Nova Scotia—a reversal of the colours the banner of Scotland with the provincial coat of arms at the centre—is Canada’s longest continuously flown flag, dating to 1858. It is also the one most recently made officially. In 2013, an 11-year-old found in her research for a school project it had never been formally recognized, an oversight since amended.

Like in neighbouring Manitoba, sentiment in favour of the Red Ensign was high in Ontario at the adoption of the Maple Leaf as Canada’s emblem in 1965. Though two MP’s condemned it as a “revenge flag,” the version featuring Ontario’s coat of arms was proclaimed as the provincial flag shortly thereafter.

On the island beneath the lion rampant—device of Prince Edward, for whom the province was named—the three smaller oaks represent the counties of Princes, Kings and Queens, and the larger tree the protection of Great Britain.

The Western Red Lily joins the provincial coat of arms on Saskatchewan’s flag, whose green and gold fields represent the province’s northern forests and southern wheatfields. A 60th anniversary version, featuring a stylized sheaf of wheat on red and green fields, is also flown, but not officially.

The white cross from the flags of France, the lilies representing purity and the blue heaven, Quebec’s fleurs-de-lis is emblematic of Christianity’s Virgin Mary. A 2001 survey by the North American Vexillological Association ranked Quebec’s flag as fourth-best among 72 state, provincial and territorial flags, the highest-ranking Canadian entry.

Northwest Territories’ first flag was chosen in 1969 from entries in a Canada-wide contest. The blue fields represent the territory’s lakes and rivers and the white panel ice, while the coat of arms depicts the Arctic Ocean, gold bars for the province’s mineral wealth and the white fox for its fur-trading history.

For the flag of our nation’s most recently recognized territory, input was gathered from local communities and submissions from across the country. The Inukshuk, a traditional Inuit land marker, is Canada red; blue and yellow represent land, sea and sky, while the blue star represents not just Polaris, but also the guidance of elders.

As part of centennial celebrations in 1967, the Royal Canadian Legion local in Whitehorse, Yukon’s capital, sponsored a flag design contest with a $100 prize. The winning design was sent to Ottawa for approval by a vexilloligist, who made several amendments to the flag. The Legion committee ignored them, and stuck with the original design.