Flag of Nova Scotia
Created in 1858, the flag of Nova Scotia is a banner of the coat of arms of Nova Scotia, which were granted to the Scottish colony by King Charles I in 1625.
The flag of the modern Canadian province, a blue saltire on a white field, is a simple figure-ground reversal of the flag of Scotland, charged with an inescutcheon bearing the royal arms of Scotland, a gold shield with a red lion rampant surrounded by a loyal double tressure.
The similarity to the Scottish flag reflects the province's name, which is Latin for "New Scotland". Nova Scotia was one of the few British colonies to be granted its own coat of arms, and the flag is the only one of the original Canadian provinces dating back to before confederation.
Despite continuous usage of the flag to represent Nova Scotia since 1858, the flag was recognized by the provincial government of Nova Scotia as the official provincial flag only in May 2013, by the Provincial Flag Act, after an eleven-year-old girl researching a project realized that no one had recognized the flag officially in 155 years of usage.
The flag is ranked #12 in the North American Vexillological Association's survey of North American state and provincial flags.
