Newfoundland Tricolour

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The Newfoundland Tricolour is a popular but unofficial flag of Newfoundland and Labrador, or more usually, of just the island of Newfoundland. Also known as the "Pink, White and Green", its proportions are 1:2 with three pales of equal width coloured green (hoist side), white, and pink. It is the oldest flag in the world to use the colour pink,^[1][2] and one of the oldest in use in North America.^[2] It is generally believed to have come into existence in 1843, and to have been the flag of the Newfoundland Natives' Society.^[1][3]

The Newfoundland Tricolour also served as inspiration for the flag of Ireland, which was designed by Thomas F. Meagher, son of Newfoundland-born mayor of Waterford, Ireland, Thomas Meagher, Jr.^[1][3]

Contents 1 Origins 2 Use 3 Song 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Origins

Legend holds that the flag was created in St. John's in 1843 by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Newfoundland, Michael Anthony Fleming. The flag is supposedly symbolic of a tradition between local Protestants and Catholics. The annual wood hauls of firewood by sealers, waiting for their vessels to leave the port of St. John's, would get embroiled in a competition to supply wood to the Anglican cathedral, Roman Catholic cathedral, schools and other charity institutions. The Protestant English marked their wood piles with the pink flag of the Natives' Society, while the Catholic Irish used green banners. The threat of violence was such that the Speaker of the House, William Carson, suggested that Bishop Fleming should be enlisted as a peacemaker. Rather than simply preaching sermons, it was decided that Fleming would try to unite the sides.^[4] To that end, Bishop Fleming persuaded the two factions to adopt a common flag, tying together the pink and green flags of the two groups with a white handkerchief, which was to symbolize peace.^[5][6] The pink symbolized the Protestant English and was supposed to have been taken from the Tudor rose (which is actually red and white, not pink), while the green symbolized the Catholic Irish. The white was taken from the Cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of fishermen and Scotland.^[1]

The historical record differs from the legend above. The Native society flag was red, not pink, and there is no evidence of Bishop Fleming creating the Pink White and Green Flag. A Red White and Green flag seems to have been unofficially used as the flag of Newfoundland until the 1870s, when for reasons which are not clear, it disappeared from use to be replaced by by a Pink, White and Green Flag. In the 1880s and 1890s the Pink White and Green flag came into widespread use as a "native flag."^[7]

[edit] Use

Whatever the true origins of the flag, the Newfoundland Tricolour gained significant social, commercial and governmental use throughout the island, although some people did not accept it as their own flag, feeling that it was in fact a Roman Catholic flag. In 1904, it was a central symbol for those opposed to confederation with Canada.^[8] Captain Robert Bartlett, who captained Admiral Peary on his ultimate polar expedition in 1909, planted the pink, white and green within a few miles of the North Pole.^[9] The tricolour was flown at Government House during the administrations of Boyle and Murray,^[6] and an official mail steamer was to be seen flying the tricolour as late as 1907.^[2] Premier Danny Williams announced in late 2005 that he would consider opening debate on the matter, and that he personally preferred the tricolour,^[10] but an informal poll commissioned in October 2005 by Williams showed that only 25% of Newfoundlanders supported adopting the tricolour.^[11][12]

[edit] Song

The following song about the tricolour flag, entitled The Flag of Newfoundland, was frequently sung during the early 20th century, and became an alternative national anthem. It was written by Archbishop Michael F. Howley in 1902:^[6]

1	The pink, the rose of England shows, The green St. Patrick's emblem, bright While in between, the spotless sheen of Andrew's cross displays the white.	3	Fling out the flag, o'er creek and cragg, Pink, white and green, so fair, so grand. Long may it sway o'er bright and bay, Around the shores of Newfoundland!	5	Should e'er the hand of fate demand Some future change in our career: We ne'er will yield: on flood or field The flag we honour and revere!
2	Then hail; the pink, the white, the green, Our patriot flag' long may it stand. Our sirelands twine, their emblems trine, To form the flag of Newfoundland!	4	What'er betide, our Ocean Bride That nestles 'midst Atlantic's foam Still far and wide, we'll raise with pride Our native flag, o'er hearth and home.	6	Fling out the flag, o'er creek and cragg; Pink, white and green, so fair, so grand. Long may it sway, o'er bight and bay, Around the shores of Newfoundland!

The colours of the flag were also used at the first public performance of the Ode to Newfoundland. A character which resembled Miss Liberty clad in a flowing gown of vertical stripes of pink, white and green appeared on stage at the Casino Theater in 1901 when the first authorized public performance of Sir Charles Cavendish Boyle's Ode to Newfoundland was given. The next day the colours appeared on the cover of the music sheet published by Boyle.^[2]

[edit] See also

• Flag of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Flag of Labrador

[edit] References

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