The Canadian flag consists of three vertical stripes. The right and left stripe are red and of equal size. The center stripe is white and in the middle of it is a red 11-pointed maple leaf emblem. The center stripe covers half of the width of the flag; while the red stripes cover one quarter each.

Meaning:
In 1921, the Canadian flag's official colors were proclaimed by King George. The color red was taken from the Saint George's Cross and the color white from the French royal emblem.

History:
The Canadian flag was adopted on October 22, 1964. During World War I, Prime Minister Lester Pearson noticed that most Canadian battalions included a maple leaf in their insignia. Therefore, Pearson vowed he would campaign to put the maple leaf on the Canadian flag. Fifty years later, Pearson was involved in a 33-day debate which resulted in the maple leaf being placed on the Canadian flag. Even though Canada had been independent of Britain since July 1, 1867, all previous incarnations of Canada's flags had included the British Union Jack.

Interesting Facts:
The Canadian flag is also known as the Maple Leaf flag and was inspired by the flag of The Royal Military College of Canada.

The French nickname for the Canadian flag is 'L'Unifolié', which means the one-leafed.
The 11 points on the maple leaf emblem have no significance. Many people believe they stand for Canada's provinces, plus the federal government, but the emblem is just a recreation of an actual maple leaf.

In Canadian pop culture, various patriotic comic book heroes use the Canadian flag as the design for their costumes, one example is Captain Canuck (source: worldflags101).