Stories
CapeRace Newsletter: What is that strange tri-colour flag I see?
May 28th, 2010
The Newfoundland Tricolour
The Newfoundland pink, white and green tricolour is one of the oldest symbols in continuous use in Newfoundland and Labrador. It predates its cousin the Irish flag by five years, and is the oldest flag in the world to use the colour pink.It has a long history, one embodied in a myth publicized by J.M. Byrnes in 1931: In the early 1800s, sealers from around Newfoundland converged on St. John’s in winter, awaiting the departure of vessels for the annual seal hunt. Public institutions benefited from this available labour by sending rival teams of sealers into the woods to haul out sleds of wood to heat the public buildings.