Forrest Pass
@forrestpass.bsky.social
Historian, curator, heraldist, vexillologist, collector of arcane and eclectic Canadiana. All opinions my own. Likes, reskeets =/= endorsement.
For more details on how we got this coat of arms, check out my 2021 article in the Canadian Parliamentary Review, marking the arms' centenary! 15/15
tinyurl.com/yeyvszxb
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
tinyurl.com/yeyvszxb
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
November 21, 2025 at 4:00 PM
For more details on how we got this coat of arms, check out my 2021 article in the Canadian Parliamentary Review, marking the arms' centenary! 15/15
tinyurl.com/yeyvszxb
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
tinyurl.com/yeyvszxb
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
As a bonus, the first official use of the Arms of Canada after their proclamation, on stationery for the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, February 1922. The crown was missing a cross, so the printing die was modified before other federal departments added it to their stationery. 14/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:56 PM
As a bonus, the first official use of the Arms of Canada after their proclamation, on stationery for the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, February 1922. The crown was missing a cross, so the printing die was modified before other federal departments added it to their stationery. 14/?
The College rejected the Cdn design, but the King accepted it, with some changes. In a last-ditch effort to save face, the College proposed more modifications. No thanks, said the Cdn committee. 13/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:52 PM
The College rejected the Cdn design, but the King accepted it, with some changes. In a last-ditch effort to save face, the College proposed more modifications. No thanks, said the Cdn committee. 13/?
Canada's counterproposal: a version of the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, with maple leaves and a nod to pre-revolutionary France. Artwork by acclaimed Toronto artist A. Scott Carter. 12/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Canada's counterproposal: a version of the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, with maple leaves and a nod to pre-revolutionary France. Artwork by acclaimed Toronto artist A. Scott Carter. 12/?
Professionals weigh in. A first proposal from York Herald at the College of Arms. Back in Canada, the coat of arms committee was unimpressed. Back to the drawing board. 11/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Professionals weigh in. A first proposal from York Herald at the College of Arms. Back in Canada, the coat of arms committee was unimpressed. Back to the drawing board. 11/?
A nod to American influence from W.H. Sadd, a lithographer from Manotick, ON: four stripes for the four original provinces, nine maple leaves for the provinces in 1921. 10/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:46 PM
A nod to American influence from W.H. Sadd, a lithographer from Manotick, ON: four stripes for the four original provinces, nine maple leaves for the provinces in 1921. 10/?
Moving into abstraction, from C.J. Stuart of Montreal. Interwoven red bars to represent the nine provinces (with room for two more, for Newfoundland and West Indies, should they join). Together, they also suggest the gridiron on which St. Lawrence was martyred. A whiff of QC's future flag. 9/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Moving into abstraction, from C.J. Stuart of Montreal. Interwoven red bars to represent the nine provinces (with room for two more, for Newfoundland and West Indies, should they join). Together, they also suggest the gridiron on which St. Lawrence was martyred. A whiff of QC's future flag. 9/?
From George Todd, a Canadian expat in Yonkers, NY. A truly terrifying bison. 8/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:40 PM
From George Todd, a Canadian expat in Yonkers, NY. A truly terrifying bison. 8/?
Aaaaand another Biggar, this time in living colour! 7/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Aaaaand another Biggar, this time in living colour! 7/?
Another Biggar offering, this one with supporters representing east and west. Biggar had taught geography in a school in Panama; when called upon to paint shields of the world's coats of arms for the school's dining hall, he was embarrassed by Canada's shield, hence his interest in new arms. 6/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Another Biggar offering, this one with supporters representing east and west. Biggar had taught geography in a school in Panama; when called upon to paint shields of the world's coats of arms for the school's dining hall, he was embarrassed by Canada's shield, hence his interest in new arms. 6/?
Edgar Biggar of New Toronto (Etobicoke) was a prolific proponent. For this one, the Province of Ontario might have raised objections. 5/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Edgar Biggar of New Toronto (Etobicoke) was a prolific proponent. For this one, the Province of Ontario might have raised objections. 5/?
And now for something completely different! Randolph J. McLean Jr. of Woodstock, NB, thinks outside the shield, using a maple leaf as his canvas instead. 4/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:33 PM
And now for something completely different! Randolph J. McLean Jr. of Woodstock, NB, thinks outside the shield, using a maple leaf as his canvas instead. 4/?
From R.J. Sharp of Montreal. Sensing a theme here... 3/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:31 PM
From R.J. Sharp of Montreal. Sensing a theme here... 3/?
From P.B. Bernard of Toronto. Includes all the hits, but undoubtedly the College of Arms would have objected to the position of the Union Jack (as they did for the first proposal for BC's coat of arms) 2/?
November 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM
From P.B. Bernard of Toronto. Includes all the hits, but undoubtedly the College of Arms would have objected to the position of the Union Jack (as they did for the first proposal for BC's coat of arms) 2/?
#OTD in 1921, King George V proclaimed the Coat of Arms of Canada. Tho' the debate over its design was tame compared to the Flag Debate 40 yrs later, there were a few "also-rans". Imagine your passport with one of these! A 🧵(All images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
November 21, 2025 at 3:25 PM
#OTD in 1921, King George V proclaimed the Coat of Arms of Canada. Tho' the debate over its design was tame compared to the Flag Debate 40 yrs later, there were a few "also-rans". Imagine your passport with one of these! A 🧵(All images: @library-archives.canada.ca)
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
#heraldry #vexillology #cdnhist
Spot the AI stock image!
November 21, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Spot the AI stock image!
Happy Douglas Day to those who celebrate! First marked in the 1920s and officialized by the Douglas Day Act, 1959 (at 9 words, BC's shortest provincial statute), in 2025 the day marks 167 years since the proclamation of the colony. If nets are your thing, party like Century Sam! #cdnhist #bchist
November 19, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Very nice - the Dionne Quints (avid vexillophiles all) would have approved! #vexillology #cdnhist
November 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Very nice - the Dionne Quints (avid vexillophiles all) would have approved! #vexillology #cdnhist
And the original reference I had in mind, in a journal of a 1941 trip to Greenland by Naomi Jackson Groves (art historian and niece of Group of 7 member A.Y. Jackson). A party at Nuuk with the Cdn vice-consul. #cdnhist #cdnpoli
Groves, "My Greenland Caper," Northward Journal 31 (1983), p. 27
Groves, "My Greenland Caper," Northward Journal 31 (1983), p. 27
November 13, 2025 at 8:04 PM
"First" consulate in Greenland? When this news broke, I remembered encountering a reference to a Canadian Consulate in Greenland in the 1940s - and the 1946 Canada Year Book confirms it. Now to figure out when (and why) the first one closed! #cdnhist #cdnpoli
Canada Year Book, 1946, p. 88:
Canada Year Book, 1946, p. 88:
November 13, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Sensing a certain theme among the flags of the various Vancouvers... #vexillology
(Left: City of Vancouver, BC; Right: District of North Vancouver, BC)
(Left: City of Vancouver, BC; Right: District of North Vancouver, BC)
November 12, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Sensing a certain theme among the flags of the various Vancouvers... #vexillology
(Left: City of Vancouver, BC; Right: District of North Vancouver, BC)
(Left: City of Vancouver, BC; Right: District of North Vancouver, BC)
Remembering Able Seaman Anthony John Kishkan, Royal Canadian Navy, and Lance Sergeant Benjamin Pass, No. 7 Movement Control Group, Royal Engineers. Antifa then, Antifa now, Antifa always.
November 11, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Remembering Able Seaman Anthony John Kishkan, Royal Canadian Navy, and Lance Sergeant Benjamin Pass, No. 7 Movement Control Group, Royal Engineers. Antifa then, Antifa now, Antifa always.
This guy also makes an appearance on the back of my 1996 measles/rubella booster certificate (which I came across in my desk drawer the other day)!
November 10, 2025 at 6:25 PM
This guy also makes an appearance on the back of my 1996 measles/rubella booster certificate (which I came across in my desk drawer the other day)!
Sam Slick the Salesman: "Arriving at the farmhouse of Deacon Flint, Sam decides to sell his last clock, which the Squire describes as 'a gawdy, highly varnished, trumpery-looking affair.'"
Thanks Thomas Haliburton (1796-1865) for the mot juste. #cdnhist #nshist #canlit
Illustration: C.W. Jefferys
Thanks Thomas Haliburton (1796-1865) for the mot juste. #cdnhist #nshist #canlit
Illustration: C.W. Jefferys
November 9, 2025 at 1:34 PM
This early 20th c. pulp pamphlet promises so much: Vampires! Deathly Cars! Lady Grifters! Ferrets! Spoiler alert: it doesn't really deliver. The story is about charity fraud. #bookhistory #halloween
October 31, 2025 at 1:55 PM
This early 20th c. pulp pamphlet promises so much: Vampires! Deathly Cars! Lady Grifters! Ferrets! Spoiler alert: it doesn't really deliver. The story is about charity fraud. #bookhistory #halloween