Newfoundland Tricolour
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| Name | The Pink, White and Green |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Design | A vertical tricolour of green, white, and rose. |
The flag commonly presented as the Newfoundland Tricolour, or the "Pink, White and Green", is an unofficial flag popular in some portions of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador and is incorrectly believed by some to have once been the Flag of Newfoundland and Labrador, or more usually, of just the island of Newfoundland. Its colours are green, white and rose. Its proportions are 1:2 with three pales of equal width coloured green (hoist side), white, and rose. Originating in the 1880s as the flag of a Roman Catholic fraternal group in St. John's, Newfoundland, it is one of the very few and perhaps one of the oldest popularly recognized flags in the world to use the colour rose.
Historical evidence indicates that the "Pink, White and Green" flag first appeared in the 1880s to 1890s and was based on the colours of the Roman Catholic fraternal group the Star of the Sea Association, which was formed in St. John's in 1871. It bears a strong resemblance to the nearly identical Flag of Ireland but with the Protestant representation of the orange panel of King William of Orange removed and replaced by a pink panel; rose being a liturgical colour of the Catholic Church and was an official colour of the Star of the Sea Association. Similar alternate versions of the Irish Flag with the orange panel replaced also exist, though these are not recognised by the Irish government.
A popular legend presented in the July 1976 issue of the Roman Catholic archdiocese's newsletter "The Monitor" is commonly though incorrectly believed as giving the origins of the flag. The legend tells that the flag was created in 1843 by Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming and is supposedly symbolic of a tradition between local Protestants and Catholics. The annual wood hauls of firewood by sealers, waiting for their vessels to leave the port of St. John's, would get embroiled in a competition to supply wood to the Anglican cathedral, Roman Catholic cathedral, schools and other charity institutions. The Protestant English marked their wood piles with the rose flag of the Natives' Society, while the Catholic Irish used green banners. The threat of violence was such that the Speaker of the House, William Carson, suggested that Bishop Fleming should be enlisted as a peacemaker. Rather than simply preaching sermons, it was decided that Fleming would try to unite the sides. To that end, Bishop Fleming persuaded the two factions to adopt a common flag, tying together the rose and green flags of the two groups with a white handkerchief, which was to symbolize peace. The rose-colour is said to have symbolized the Protestant English and was taken from the Tudor rose, though this has been questioned as the Tudor Rose is actually red and white, not pink, while the green symbolized the Catholic Irish. The white was taken from the Cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of fishermen and Scotland.
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