BARRHEAD - The United Kingdom's national flag, the Union Jack, has been flying high at Barrhead's Memorial Park.
The municipality replaced one of the Canadian flags at the park, which features the Cenotaph. The other flags flown at the park are the Town of Barrhead flag and the provincial flag.
Mayor Dave McKenzie told the Barrhead Leader that he received multiple phone calls suggesting that having two Canadian flags side by side did not look proper, and asked if there was a way to "reconfigure" the layout of the flags.
"So I thought about it, and I thought that we could replace one of the Canadian flags with the Union Jack, as it was our national flag until 1965 and a lot of the names that are on the Cenotaph probably fought under that flag," he said.
McKenzie then called Herman Barkemeyer, a 10-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, with experience in both the army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, and a long-time Legion member, for his opinion.
"He thought it was a great idea, and he took it on himself to run the Union Jack," he said, adding that so far the town has received nothing but favourable comments.
However, Barkemeyer said the switchover did not go as smoothly as he had planned, as he accidentally flew the flag upside down.
"It is something very easy to do," McKenzie said, adding he first learned the correct orientation of the flag in his youth as a Cub Scout.
The mayor later confirmed the flag is now flying in the proper orientation.
Barkemeyer joked that the Legion has a tradition of flying flags upside down, noting that when they first raised the Red Ensign, they accidentally reversed its orientation.
Related links: https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/barrhead-news/two-canadian-flags-to-fly-at-barrheads-memorial-park-10668298
https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/barrhead-news/barrhead-legion-feeling-the-loss-of-the-red-ensign-10045521
History
The reason why two Canadian flags were on the flag poles at Memorial Park is that the municipality had to remove the Red Ensign, as well as that of the Royal Canadian Legion, following the successful passing of the Barrhead Neutral Space Bylaw at a special council meeting last December after residents voted in favour of the bylaw in a plebiscite.
The bylaw essentially prohibits "decorative crosswalks" on town roadways, restricting them to the conventional white stripes bordered by two white lines. It also limits the flags that can be flown on any municipally owned property and facilities to the Canadian, provincial, and Town of Barrhead flags.
The bylaw also prohibits the display of decorations on town crosswalks or flags supporting political, social, or religious movements or commercial entities.
The Canadian Red Ensign was the de facto national flag of Canada from 1868 until 1965.
Counci passed the bylaw after residents voted in favour of it by a vote of 653 to 492 during the municipal-wide plebiscite on Dec. 2.
Barrhead Neutrality forced the plebiscite after collecting 712 signatures on a petition that required a vote on the bylaw. To be a valid petition under the Municipal Government Act (MGA), 10 per cent of the town's population needed to sign the petition. Alberta Municipal Affairs listed the town's 2023 population at 4,320, meaning the petition needed 432 signatures.
In a June 2024 interview with the Leader, two of Barrhead Neutrality's founders, Ard Doornboss and Jonathan Warkentin, stated they launched the petition after the councillors approved the Decorative Crosswalk Policy in mid-May.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
