To make a significant national statement, I chose to revise The Canadian Flag to represent women from coast to coast whose Rights must be honoured in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. My response was the first apron flag From Bonavista to Vancouver Island.

As this series of flags aprons developed, I rearranged the apron ties to look like arms, with elbows thrusting outward and hands forcefully placed on hips. I intended to make it obvious that Canadian Women will not tolerate exclusion of their rights from our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

On May 12, 1982, a disgraceful exchange took place in Canada’s House of Commons, concerning the lack of protection for women who are victims of domestic abuse. The male laughter and disgusting comments about this issue pushed me to respond with an apron poster. (Hansard Canada, 17334, Commons Debates, May 12, 1982, Staus of Women).

The apron poster was printed commercially to raise money for an existing women’s shelter in Kingston.On. I sent a copy of the poster to the federal minister for women’s affairs who was Judy Erola, and I gave a copy to the special collections department at the Douglas Library’s poster collection at Queen’s University, in Kingston Ontario.

At this point, I changed the apron print by adding a dark background and locating half of the maple leaf outside of the flag at each end of the flag in the dark background. This emphasized the deliberate removal of the maple leaf and the central importance of women from coast to coast. The title for this print is Apron Flag-Maple Leaf Displaced

In 2014 I altered the 1983 design for the Apron Flag- Maple Leaf Displaced by omitting the dark background and moving one half of the maple leaf to the red panels inside the flag. This emphasized the removal of the maple leaf from its central position and its replacement by the red defiant apron. The apron tie elbows now look as if they have pushed the maple leaf aside. This is the most assertive of all the apron flags.

The four Apron flag prints (excluding the poster) were originally printed on BKF rives paper measuring 22 inches by 30 inches. The first version of From Bonavista to Vancouver Islands has been trimmed. The final apron flag print has also been trimmed, leaving a smaller margin around the flag image.

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Canadian Apron Flag photo credit: Lee Bondzio.