Charles D. Maginley of Mahone Bay (who happens to be my stepfather) has been collecting old flags and plates featuring the heraldry of Canada for some years. He’s a former naval officer and Canadian Coast Guard instructor, and has authored some books on the history of the Canadian Coast Guard, so the flags are a bit of a sideline.
He put together a talk about the Canadian Red Ensign, formerly the official flag of Canada before we got the Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. He has presented the talk, along with real flags and pictures of ships sailing them, to several groups such as the Master Mariners and the gatherings of sailing aficionados one finds around Lunenburg.
It’s a specialized window on history which true history buffs find interesting. I thought his talk should get immortalized on YouTube so that such people who are not so fortunate to live in our local part of Nova Scotia will be able to find it.
I have an image of an old Ensign that was carried with a Canadian killed at Dieppe and subsequently taken by a German soldier as a souvenir. The German was later captured an American in 1945. The Ensign was taken back to the US. Long story short – the Ensign is now at Ottawa. The Ensign is old and looks like it had an earlier history – perhaps taken into battle during the Great War by a father? Anyway, I can send some photos and perhaps you can identify the era. Just send me your email