City Council Adopts Motion Declaring Yearly Celebration
At The Flag Shop, we have a long-standing tradition of celebrating birthdays, and we try to never let one go by without notice. Whether it’s a team lunch, or bringing in the birthday person’s favourite Starbucks order, or decorating our workspaces with balloons and streamers, or a mani/pedi with the team, or even a thoughtful note, that’s how we do it!
We’ve even been known to honour our fur babies with birthday parties, including cake for everyone, of course! Speaking of fur babies, for more about our adorable four-legged babies, follow us on Facebook @TheFlagShop and check out Fur Baby Fridays!
Vancouver’s birthday is a big deal to us, too. This city has been home to The Flag Shop Head Office since 1975, and it’s not every day that we can recognize a great city like Vancouver, as it turns 133 years young!
Vancouver’s Birthday Proclaimed April 6th
When we heard that Vancouver City Councillor Colleen Hardwick was calling for an annual birthday celebration to take place on April 6th, we could not miss our chance to get behind it. Who doesn’t love a great birthday party, especially when we have so much to celebrate? And, would you believe, the last time Vancouverites celebrated our great city’s birthday as a community, it was back in 2011? So, we have a lot of catching up to do! The Flag Shop President, Susan Braverman said, “I was born and raised here, so Vancouver has always been my home. I think every city in Canada should have a birthday party and now we do!” She added, “I can’t think of a better way to recognize this big day than to raise the Vancouver flag at Vanier Park, and across the city, every year on April 6th!”
Doreen Braverman and Rob Watt at City Hall – May 17th, 1983
About the Vancouver Flag
Robert Watt, who was the Director of the Vancouver Museum and the Chief Herald of Canada, designed the flag. The Flag Shop Founder, Doreen Braverman recalls, “We worked with Robert Watt’s design and the mayor at the time, Phillip Owen, to bring the flag to life. We took the original design and came up with a few options.” About Vancouver Day, Doreen said, “As someone who used to write to City Council every year, encouraging a Vancouver Day celebration, I’m glad to see that Councillor Hardwick brought the motion forward and it was approved.”
The Vancouver flag was adopted by City Council on May 17th, 1983. Symbolic elements of the flag include the axe and paddle on a gold shield, for logging and fishing, and the blue and white wavy ribbons, representing the ocean and rivers around Vancouver.
A City is Born – Highlights Through History [1]
1886: Granville, with a population of about 1,000, was incorporated as the City of Vancouver.
1887: As the last stop in a trip across the continent, the CPR’s first train arrived in Vancouver.
1889: The original Granville Street Bridge was completed. Future versions were built in 1909 and 1954.
1898: Sand was added to the beach at English Bay, before that you’d have had to walk through bush.
1911: The Arena, Canada’s first artificial ice rink opened. It was the largest indoor rink in the world.
1915: With only a few students, UBC opened. Today’s enrollment is greater than 65,000.
1920: Vancouver grew past Winnipeg in size, which until 1920 had been the main city of western Canada.
1938: The Lions Gate Bridge was built with an expected lifespan of 50 years.
1939: Hotel Vancouver was built at the corner of Georgia and Burrard and is still a well-known landmark.
1957: At a price of $2 a ticket, fans attended an Elvis Presley concert at Vancouver’s Empire Stadium.
1964: The BC Lions won their first Grey Cup at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
1970: The Canucks played in the NHL for the first time, losing to the LA Kings.
1978: Now an annual, week-long celebration, the first Vancouver Gay Pride Festival took place.
1985: An automated LRT, known as the SkyTrain started, with its first route from Vancouver to New West.
1997: Hosting local and international artists, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts opened at UBC.
2002: The Economist magazine named both Vancouver and Melbourne as the world’s top cities, in a tie. Vancouver has regularly ranked in the top 10 since then.
2003: MHR Consulting, ranking quality of life, rated Vancouver as the top city in North America. Awarded the top spot numerous times, Vancouver has also regularly ranked in the top 10.
2010: Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics in February.
It was 133 years ago that Vancouver was born and today, our amazing city has a global reputation for its natural beauty, including the ocean, greenery and mountains, as well as its livability, its local fare, beers and wines, not to mention outdoor adventure opportunities, and world-class entertainment.
It’s Party Time!
Don’t miss your chance to express your personal pride in calling Vancouver home! No matter how you choose to mark the day, fly the flag with civic pride! Read more about the Vancouver Day decision and plan to celebrate all that makes Vancouver great! We’re ready to set you up with Vancouver flags and other municipal flags at: shop.flagshop.com.
Happy 133rd Birthday, Vancouver!
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Sources:
[1] https://www.tourismvancouver.com/vancouver/history/
Unfortunately, Flag Day 2016 also marks the first Flag Day since the passing of Patrick Reid, a man who was absolutely instrumental in the adoption of our modern flag.
