In reality, giving official symbol status to a specific species of plant (or a species of bird or animal) is simply a ceremonial designation, with no relevance to law. The White Trillium ( Trillium grandiflorum) is the official provincial flower of Ontario, which has led to a common assumption that the flower enjoys special legal protections as a result. Is it illegal to pick trillium flowers in Ontario? In any case, depending on how you count, the maple leaf on the flag has either nine points or 11, neither of which has any obvious Canadian symbolism given that the country has 10 provinces and (at the time the flag was made) two territories.Ī 2015 statement from the federal government on the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag affirmed “there is no special significance to the eleven points.” The 1965 Proclamation of the national flag of Canada decrees only that Canada shall have “a red flag of the proportions two by length and one by width, containing in its centre a white square the width of the flag, bearing a single red maple leaf,” and does not designate any official symbolism. Officially speaking, nothing on Canada’s flag represents anything. Do the points on the maple leaf on Canada’s flag represent Canada’s ten provinces?