What is the floral emblem of Ontario, Canada?

The white trillium is the floral emblem of Ontario, Canada.

Ontario designated the white trillium, Trillium grandiflorum, as its official floral emblem in 1937 through the Floral Emblem Act. The choice reflects the flower’s strong presence in Ontario’s forests and woodlands, where it typically blooms in late April and May. Its large white flower and three-part structure make it a familiar spring sight across the province.

The selection grew out of a movement during the First World War to choose a floral emblem suitable for planting on the graves of Canadian servicemen overseas. The trillium also became a powerful visual shorthand for Ontario: a stylised trillium appears in the provincial government’s wordmark and is used by many provincial institutions and programs.

The common answer “trillium” is accepted, although the official emblem is more specifically the white trillium, Trillium grandiflorum. Another frequent misconception is that picking one is specifically illegal everywhere in Ontario. It is not generally a species-specific ban, though picking wildflowers on many Crown or protected lands may be prohibited and can damage the slow-recovering plant.