Quote Originally Posted by CMcG View Post
It appears the Ensign of Ontario (1965) was the unofficial tartan for many years and the official tartan is much newer (designed 1995, recognized in 2000)...
That's about it. Rather than make the Ensign the official tartan someone designed the new one and had it recognized bt the Tartan Act 2000. Note the description; "In the tartan, the shades of green represent the forests and fields of Ontario, the red represents the First Nations of Ontario, the shades of blue represent the waters of Ontario and the white represents the sky over Ontario." Must've been a cloudy day when the designer sat down with paper and pencil crayons!

I'll admit I was torn over the two tartans and inspite of the additional cost of the custom weave I chose the official because of the symbolism of the blue for the lakes. I've spent the last ten years activly involved in the Coast Guard Auxiliary on the west end of Lake Ontario, so for me it had greater personal meaning.

Surprisingly the Maple leaf is not our official national tartan, we don't have one. It is, thankfully, the official tartan of the Royal Canadian Regiment.