The Labrador Flag is a celebration of the unique identity and common heritage of the people of Labrador.

The top bar is white, and represents the snow. This is the one element which, more than any other, colored the culture and dictated the lifestyle of Labrador's people. The center bar is green, and it represents the land. The green and bountiful land is the connecting element that unites Labrador's three diverse cultures. The bottom line is blue, and it represents the waters of Labrador's rivers, lakes and the sea. The waters have been Labrador's highways, and have nurtured Labrador's fish and wildlife.

The symbolic spruce twig was chosen because the spruce tree is common to all geographical regions of Labrador. It has provided shelter, transportation, fuel, even food and clothing as it is home to the wildlife which provided Labrador people with meat and skins. The spruce provided planks for boats, komatiks, and houses. The three branches represent the three peoples of Labrador, the Inuit, the Innu, and the European settlers. The twig grows from one stalk to represent the common origin of all humanity. It is in two sections, or two years' growth. The outer growth is longer than the inner growth, because in good growing years the twig grows longer than in the poorer ones. The inner and shorter twig represents the past, while the larger outer twig represents our hopes for a brighter future.

 

Below are some examples of flags that purport to be the Flag of Labrador but the designers got it all wrong, either in the tone of the colours, the dimensions of the flag and its bars, or the dimensions of the flag itself - and sometime all three. We refer to these as "Bootlegger Flags" because in some cases the designers altered the specifications of the flag in an attempt to get around the Copyright requirements. Some were obviously well intentioned efforts at design but without a set of specification for reference.

At an early stage after the creation of the flag it was decided that the flag should be copyrighted in an effort to protect the integrity of the design. At the time the copyright was announced, the Height of Land Branch of the Labrador Heritage Society made a public announcement to the effect that the granting of copyright did not restrict the use of the design by other parties so long as the integrity of the original design was maintained. Unfortunately some people heard only the first part, that there was copyright, and so decided to circumvent it.

The authors of these creations have every right to design different flags but they are not permitted to promote them or sell them under the names "Flag of Labrador" or "The Labrador Flag". Those titles are reserved for the design that is registered with the Government of Canada under the Copyright Act. One of the roles of the Labrador Heritage Trust will be to police the misuse of this design and prosecute those who attempt to profit from their bootlegged designs as The Flag of Labrador or The Labrador Flag.

Wouldn't it be much easier for manufacturers and suppliers just to use the original specifications. Then everyone would be happy. You may view the specs by going to the Specifications Page.

 

This is how the Flag is supposed to look, according to the original design specifications. Most people get the green too light and the blue too dark. That pale blue is copied directly from the bright, cold, winter, Labrador sky. Check it out on a clear winter day.

A good effort, the colours and dimensions are about right. The green is a tad too light and the blue a bit dark, but it will pass. The twig is a little ragged and not properly centered in the staff-half of the white bar.

The dimensions are OK. The colours are a bit off but would pass. The blue is a bit dark. The twig is all wrong with all the year growths being of the same length, far too small and not centred..

The overall dimensions are wrong. The bars are not properly proportioned The blue is far too deep. The twig is too small and not properly centered.

The overall dimensions are off: the flag is too short. The blue is too dark. The twig....well what can we say? A spruce twig it isn't. It looks like something that fell off a garbage truck.

The dimensions are wrong. The bars are all the same width. The blue is too dark and the green too light. And there's that limp vegetable again. Or maybe it is a dessicated marijuana plant. The winner, by a wide margin, of bad design.