On February 11, 1965, Canada officially introduced its new national flag. It was a long decision-making process that included the Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson, receiving mailed submissions for flag designs from citizens across the country. Canada's current flag design was chosen for its simplicity and for the fact that the maple tree does indeed grow, in many varieties, across Canada. The right-hand red bar represents the East coast and the left-hand red bar represents the west coast with the maple leaf joining each coast and the middle of Canada together as one country.

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http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02/maple-leaf-redux-a-civility-lesson-from-canadas-rejected-flag-submissions.html