In a recent blog post, Steve Nix presented Canada's official provincial and territorial trees. You'd probably expect many of them to be conifers, and you'd be right. But some deciduous trees make the list, too -- although not the sugar maple, whose leaf we see on Canada's maple leaf flag.

According to Susan Munroe, About's Guide to Canada Online, there are three significant dates in the story behind Canada's maple leaf flag. Firstly, the maple leaf "was used in 1860 in decorations for the visit of the Prince of Wales to Canada." Secondly, the red and white we see on the flag are the official colors of Canada, as per a 1921 proclamation by King George V. And thirdly, the maple leaf flag did not become the official symbol of Canada until 1965.