NOVEMBER 27, 2025 — In British Columbia, the Dawson Creek city council recently engaged in a debate over the municipality’s official vexillological symbols after a staff report indicated the current city flag had never been formally codified, says Energetic City.
The discussion during the November 24 regular council meeting focused on a proposal for a new flag and coat of arms, part of an “administrative cleanup” aimed at formalizing the city’s emblems.
The report presented to council included digital mock-ups for a new design, which were provided by the Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA). Public records confirm the CHA granted Arms, Supporters, and a Flag to “The Corporation of the City of Dawson Creek” on November 20, 2008.
The blazon for the flag granted in 2008 is described as: Azure on a Canadian pale Argent an escutcheon of the Arms. The accompanying blazon for the Arms is: Per chevron rompu Azure and Or, in base the silhouette of the Alaska Highway Mile 0 sign Azure.
Despite the 2008 grant, city staff, led by Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Henderson, informed council that they could find no record of the current flag having been formally approved by a council resolution, only the coat of arms. Henderson emphasized the necessity for the city to have an officially sanctioned flag.
The proposed design, based on the CHA’s 2008 grant, immediately drew scrutiny from councillors who questioned the need for a change after approximately 17 years of using the current, unofficial flag.
Staff acknowledged the difference in colours between the current flag and the mock-up, attributing the discrepancy to the provided images being derived from historical paintings. However, they confirmed that the colours in the proposed design were close enough to the city’s existing blue and yellow scheme that they would not necessitate changes to existing city signage.
Furthermore, staff informed the council that an alternative was to formally adopt the flag currently in use, stressing that the primary goal was simply to codify an official flag and integrate it into the municipal government’s policy.
Ultimately, the council voted to defer its decision on adopting an official flag. The deferral was contingent on staff providing a new render of the proposed flag that accurately depicts the official colours for the councillors to review at a later date.
Image: Cookieman1.1.1 (CC BY-SA 4.0) and The Governor General of Canada
