City of Windsor and Partners to Host CANADA UNITED to Help Nation “Celebrate Your Love For The Canadian Flag”
Saturday, February 15, 2025, is Flag Day. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Canadian flag, and the City of Windsor and community partners are standing together to mark the occasion with pride.
Recently, in a joint statement, former Canadian prime ministers Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, and Stephen Harper urged Canadians to fly the maple leaf with pride as “never before” to celebrate the significant anniversary and to stand united behind the flag in the face of tariff threats and a looming trade war launched by United States President Donald Trump. “Let’s show the world that we are proud of our history and proud of our country,” the statement by the former prime ministers read.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge has also asked Canadians to participate in Flag Day celebrations, commencing on Valentine’s Day, in a collective show of love for Canada and for the country’s flag. “This year, more than ever, not only do we have to celebrate our flag but also remind ourselves what it represents: our values, our resilience and our sovereignty,” St-Onge said.
In response, the City of Windsor, working with partners, has planned a day of celebrations, commemorations, gatherings, and initiatives for Saturday, February 15, 2025, including:
Chimczuk Museum – Historic Canadian flag on display
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Museum Windsor’s Chimczuk Museum is giving residents a rare opportunity to see a piece of national history up close. The museum will display a historic Canadian flag that was originally raised on Parliament Hill on February 15, 1965, the day the current national flag was officially adopted. The flag is part of a series of flags that flew on all permanent flagpoles surrounding parliamentary buildings in Ottawa during the original ceremony. The flag is approximately 11 feet wide. It was last on display with Museum Windsor in 2015. The public can view the historic flag at the Chimczuk Museum, 401 Riverside Drive West, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Admission is free for the day, and additional events connected to Canada’s history, include a presentation by author and poet Nadine Williams about her installation, “The Fabric of Our Being,” which has been displayed in connection with Black History Month celebrations.
Admission to Art Windsor-Essex is also free on Saturday.
CANADA UNITED – Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Canadian Flag
5:00 p.m. at the Pelissier Street Parking Garage
The City, in partnership with Windsor Parade Corporation and the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (DWBIA) will present CANADA UNITED: A Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Canadian Flag on Saturday evening beginning at 5:00 p.m. at the Pelissier Street Parking Garage.
The event will feature distribution of free flags, singing of the national anthem, remarks from Mayor Drew Dilkens and Councillor Renaldo Agostino at 6:00 p.m., and a live performance by Alysia Therrien.
Canada’s most famous 1995 Unity Flag (Drapeau de l’unité Canadienne) will be on display at the celebration. The Windsor Parade Corporation is the owner of the 60-foot by 30-foot Unity Flag made famous in 1995 at the referendum rally in Montreal. Guests at the event will have the opportunity to participate in a ceremonial raising of the flag.
Immediately following the gathering, everyone is invited to visit a Downtown Windsor establishment to watch Team Canada versus Team U.S.A., with a hockey game start time of 7:30 p.m.
City Hall Illumination
In honour of the Canadian flag, City Hall will be illuminated in red in the evenings beginning Friday, February 14, 2025.
Quotes:
“It’s wonderful to see Windsorites come together, as proud Canadians, and as we always do to celebrate our country. In the face of growing adversity and uncertainty from the United States – our closest friend, ally, and largest trading partner, it is more important than ever that we focus on what makes Canada special, strong, and the best country in the world. We have so much to be proud of, and to offer as a nation. This February 15th Flag Day will serve as an opportunity to collectively celebrate our sovereign nation, to wear our maple leaf with pride, to ‘Buy Canadian,’ and to raise our voices together in the spirit of resolve and with that won’t-quit-passion-and-fight that we are known for here in Windsor, and that has transformed us into one of the most important communities to watch across our great nation. I look forward to standing together, united, at this important moment in history.”
- Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens
“We are the True North Strong and Free, and that will never change – we are Canadian!”
- Councillor Renaldo Agostino, Ward 3
“Join us in the heart of Downtown Windsor as we proudly celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Canadian flag. Now more than ever we must stand united as Canadians, strong, resilient and proud. Our flag is a symbol of our shared history and unwavering spirit. Come together for an unforgettable event filled with community, patriotism, and celebration of what makes Canada truly great.”
- Chris MacLeod, Chair, Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (BIA)
“The Windsor Parade Corporation is so very proud to have the opportunity to showcase our Canadian Pride on Flag Day inviting our community to help us wave our 30-foot by 60-foot Canadian flag made famous 30 years ago at the Referendum Rally in Montreal. All Canadians are being asked to stand up and wave their flags on February 15th, and we are thrilled to be able to share this iconic flag with Windsor residents in a salute to a country that we know is Always The Best Place to Be.”
- Maggie Durocher, Windsor Parade Corporation