A small Prince Albert flag sits on a desk at the Historical Museum. (Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

OUR FLAG

Former councillor remembers the adoption of Prince Albert’s official flag

Jan 14, 2023 | 10:00 AM

New Year’s Day was not only the turning of the calendar and the start of 2023, but it was also the anniversary of a milestone moment in Prince Albert’s history.

On Jan. 1, 1980, the City of Prince Albert officially adopted its own flag after unanimous approval by members of City Council.

The flag of Prince Albert at City Hall. (Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

The flag of Prince Albert is a simple design, a rectangular flag split into thirds, the two outer sides are green and the middle is gold, the official colours of Prince Albert.

In the middle is a tree, created by four triangles, representing the building blocks of industry: Fur, Fish, Forestry and Farming.

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The tree is stylized the way it is to portray the abundance of parks and playgrounds in the city. The tree is also pointing north to show the roads that lead north two and from Prince Albert, hence the city’s slogan of “Gateway to the North.”, north facing object also represents an arrowhead, which pays tribute to the Indigenous people who originally inherited the land.

(Submitted Photo/Prince Albert Historical Society)

The flag was originally created to mark the city’s 75^th Jubilee in 1979. It was designed by Milda Hunter, a resident of Arborfield who presented the work to the Celebration’s Committee and looked to adopt the official flag.

That’s where former councillor Lee Gisi comes into the picture. The now 95-year-old was a member of council and one of three members of that committee along with Rod Thompson and Jim McKnight.

Gisi recalled the discussions for the flag and how well the new moniker was received not just by city residents but those abroad.

“We had hundreds (made) and different sizes and different stores had them made. Everybody was selling them for a while. A lot of people bought them as a memory thing, especially the tourists.”

“There were a lot of cities that asked for one of our flags. We sent them all our flag, every one of them.”

There were though, a couple of cities that did not request flags but the mayor at the time, Richard Spencer, sent them anyway.

While Gisi did not name the cities specifically, he did point out that the communities eventually made pets on whose hockey team was better. The losing team would have to fly the opposing city’s flag, mentioning the teams involved were the Blades, Pats, and Raiders.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock