Canada is represented by a red-and-white flag bearing a stylized white maple leaf.
Known as the Maple Leaf flag, Canada's current national flag was adopted on 15 February 1965. It has two vertical red bands at the hoist and fly, with a white square between them containing an 11-point red maple leaf.
The maple leaf had represented Canada and its people for generations before the flag was adopted. The design was developed during a major parliamentary debate in the 1960s, when Canada sought a national flag distinct from the Union Jack and other colonial symbols.
The 11 points on the leaf do not represent Canada's provinces and territories. The Canadian flag's simple design is sometimes confused with Austria's horizontal red-white-red flag, Switzerland's white cross on red, or Denmark's white Scandinavian cross on red. None of those flags uses the maple leaf.