British Columbia Flag

The flag of British Columbia is a distinctive provincial banner featuring a Union Jack on the upper portion, charged in the centre with a golden crown, above a field of wavy blue and white bars with a golden setting sun rising from the base.

Its design is a direct banner rendering of the provincial coat of arms granted by King Edward VII in 1906, fusing British colonial heritage with local symbolism, and making it one of the most recognizable provincial flags in Canada.

The flag's striking palette of blue, white and gold is both visually bold and rich in meaning, directly referencing the province's geography between the Rockies and the Pacific.

The upper portion of the flag, with the Union Jack on a white background, symbolizes the province's historical origins as a British colony and its continued membership in the Commonwealth.

The lower half depicts a stylized representation of the Pacific Ocean through alternating wavy blue and white lines, with a radiant golden sun setting into it, illustrating British Columbia's location as Canada's westernmost province where the sun sets over the Pacific.

The golden sun also represents the province's bright future and its historical association with the Gold Rush era, while the blue and white waves signify the importance of the Pacific Ocean and its coastal waters to the province's history and economy.

The flag was officially adopted on June 20, 1960, under Premier W.A.C. Bennett's government. Rather than a new design, it is an armorial banner: a faithful rendering of the provincial shield of arms granted by King Edward VII in 1906.

That shield was designed by Arthur John Beanlands, canon of Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria and an amateur heraldist, decades before the flag itself existed. In adapting the shield to flag form in 1960, the province stretched its elements into the familiar oblong layout used today.