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The Flag of Canada is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted to replace the Union Flag. The Canadian Red Ensign had been unofficially used since the 1890s and was approved by a 1945 Order-in-Council for use "wherever place or occasion may make it desirable to fly a distinctive Canadian flag". In 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed a committee to resolve the issue, sparking a serious debate about a flag change. Out of three choices, the maple leaf design by George F. G. Stanley was chosen. The flag made its first appearance on February 15, 1965; the date is now celebrated annually as National Flag of Canada Day. Other flags have been created for use by Canadian officials, government bodies, and military forces. Most of these flags contain the maple leaf motif in some fashion, either by having the Canadian flag charged in the canton, or by including maple leaves in the design. The Royal Union Flag is also an official flag in Canada, used as a symbol of Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, and of its allegiance to the Crown. The Royal Union Flag forms a component of other Canadian flags, notably the provincial flags of Manitoba and Ontario. (more...)

A Common Brown Robber fly (Zosteria sp.), one of the 7,100 described species of robber flies, shown here feeding on a hoverfly. Adult robber flies attack other flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, various bees, dragon and damselflies, ichneumon wasps, grasshoppers, and some spiders.

Photo credit: Fir0002
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From Wikipedia's newest articles:

• ... that John McCain was a member of the VA-46 Clansmen (insignia pictured) when he was wounded during the 1967 USS Forrestal fire off the coast of Vietnam?
• ... that St Mary and St Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church, Hove, one of nine Coptic churches in the British Isles, has an iconostasis which is believed to be the tallest in the world?
• ... that since its establishment in 1986, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan has spent $4.5 billion to protect wetlands used by migratory birds in North America?
• ... that Arthur Hartley developed the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation which is credited with safely landing 2,500 aircraft during World War Two?
• ... that McDonald's Cycle Center in Chicago, Illinois provides lockers, showers, a snack bar, bike repair, and bike rental to bicycle commuters?
• ... that after being shipwrecked on Malé Atoll in 1973, Tony Hussein Hinde pioneered surfing in the Maldives, which was previously unknown in the country?
  
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• Flooding (rising Des Moines River pictured) continues in the Midwestern United States, leading to the evacuation of thousands of homes.
• NBC journalist Tim Russert dies suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 58.
• Irish voters reject the Treaty of Lisbon in a referendum, thus putting into question the reform program of the European Union.
• The People's Republic of China and Taiwan begin their first formal talks in a decade on improving Cross-Strait relations.
• Pakistan condemns a United States air strike near the Afghan border that killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops, along with eight Taliban militants.
• Amid an outbreak of tornadoes and derechos in central and eastern North America, a tornado hits a Boy Scout camp in Iowa, killing four.
• Japan's House of Councillors passes a censure motion against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the first such motion to be passed since World War II.
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June 14: Liberation Day in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Flag Day in the United States

• 1777 – The Second Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes design for the flag of the United States.
• 1807 – In the last major battle in the War of the Fourth Coalition, the French decisively defeated the Russians at the Battle of Friedland near present-day Pravdinsk, Russia.
• 1822 – Charles Babbage (pictured) proposed a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society.
• 1846 – Settlers in the Town of Sonoma began a rebellion against Mexico, proclaiming the California Republic.
• 1982 – Argentine forces surrendered to the British, ending the Falklands War.
• 1985 – A group with alleged links to Hezbollah hijacked TWA Flight 847 shortly after take-off from Athens.

• More events: June 13 – June 14 – June 15

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