Winnipeg Free Press Flag Contest 2001
In the Summer of 2001, the North
American Vexillogical Association released a survey of its members comparing
the state and provincial flags of North America. Manitoba came in last of the
ten provinces. Many people were not happy with this, however I agreed with NAVA;
our flag was not well designed, and is almost impossible to tell apart from
Ontario's. So I wrote the Winnipeg Free Press and suggested they have a contest
to pick a new flag, and sent them my design. They went with it. I didn't win,
but I was in the top four. Here was what I sent them.
Here's my idea for a new flag for MANITOBA: 
- Blue represents the Prairie sky and our northern lakes.
- Green represents our forests and croplands.
- The bison is our most recognized provincial symbol, and shows a connection to Manitoba's First Peoples ( Bison design taken from a Government of Manitoba brochure, thanks to original illustrator)
- The flag is similar to, but not a copy of, Saskatchewan's flag. Our closest and most similar
neighbour.
- I tried to follow most of the rules for good flag design. Easy to identify, simple for a child to draw from memory. Does not include someone else's flag. If one wanted, you could possibly change the blue field to that of the Union Jack, to show our British heritage, but in a Multicultural society such as we have today, I like the blue better.
