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There’s something that Canada does better than every other country
To be honest, there are quite a few things Canada does best: maple syrup, ice hockey, lakes (it has the largest water area in world, equivalent to more than the entire area of Pakistan). Yet beyond these sticky and cold accolades, Canada also (in my opinion) leads the world in one other arena: visual identity.
I’ve been to Canada quite a few times, starting from when I was scarcely old enough to fly. And whilst my broader view of the country is a rose-tinted kaleidoscope of placid lakes, canoes, skis, and smiles, there is something that I’ve noticed about Canada that sets it apart from every other country I’ve been to. When I think of the word Canada, my mind automatically renders the word in an audacious yet welcoming serif font, with a little maple-lead flag above the last ‘a’. My mind has intertwined the concept of Canada with the powerful, ubiquitous Canada wordmark that is used on everything the Canadian federal government has touched. It’s a visual identity programme so powerful that even I, as a casual, occasional consumer of the Canadian product, intrinsically associate the country with its logo.
How did Canada come to have such a powerful visual identifier? And how does it fit into the patterns of identity that countries use?
Sovereign Diptychs
Every country in the world has a flag and some form of emblem (often a coat of arms or a seal) — let’s be a bit ornate and call that the sovereign diptych. In many cases, the flag and the emblem have been more or less the same for centuries, with emblems in particular often relating to the heraldry of monarchs, or using a range of motifs associated with sovereignty such as eagles and wreaths and incorporating specific national symbols that relate to the country There’s a kangaroo on the Australian coat of arms, and zebras on the Botswanan coat of arms. Some countries use part of their flag on their emblem, or vice versa: Spain and Egypt both use their coat of arms prominently on their flag, whilst the emblem of Switzerland is, like their flag, just a big plus.
Flags indicate a country — most can recognise the flags for quite a few countries. They are used so universally as a means of visually representing a country that we scarcely notice them…
