View source for Flag of Toronto

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox flag
| Name = City of Toronto
| Image = Toronto Flag.svg
| Imagetext =City of Toronto flag
| Article =
| Nickname = Toronto flag
| Use = {{FIAV|100000}}>
| Symbol = {{FIAV|normal}}
| Proportion = 1:2
| Adoption = {{start date and age|1999|11|df=y}}
| Image2 = Flag of Toronto, Ontario (1974–1998).svg
| Imagetext2 = Flag for the pre-amalgamated [[Old Toronto|former City of Toronto]]
| Alt2 = 
| Noborder2 = <!-- Leave blank for rectangular flag; for non-rectangular flag, type "no". -->
| Nickname2 = 
| Morenicks2 = 
| Use2 = {{FIAV|100000}}>
| Symbol2 = {{FIAV|historical}}
| Proportion2 = 2:3
| Adoption2 = {{start date|1974|11|6|df=y}}
| Relinquished2 = {{start date|1998|1|1|df=y}}{{efn|name=amalga|In 1998, the ''[[City of Toronto Act#City of Toronto Act, 1997 (Bill 103)|City of Toronto Act, 1997]]'' went into effect, dissolving the Metropolitan Toronto region and [[amalgamation of Toronto|amalgamating]] its former lower-tier municipalities into the new City of Toronto.}}
| Design2 = A blue field and a white outline of [[Toronto City Hall]] slightly left-of-centre with a red [[maple leaf]] at the base.
| Designer2 = Renato De Santis}}
The [[city flag]] of [[Toronto]], also known as the '''Toronto flag''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/awards-tributes/tributes/city-of-toronto-symbols/|title=City of Toronto Symbols|publisher=City of Toronto|website=www.toronto.ca|access-date=28 September 2024|year=2024}}</ref> was adopted by [[Toronto City Council]] and was designed by Renato De Santis and includes a white outline of [[Toronto City Hall]] on a blue field, and a red [[maple leaf]] at the base of the towers.

The first flag of Toronto was adopted by the [[Old Toronto|former City of Toronto]] in 1967 and included the [[Coat of Arms of Toronto|city's coat of arms]] on a blue and white field. However, that flag was replaced by De Santis' design in 1974, a design that remained in use until 1998, when the former city was [[amalgamation of Toronto|amalgamated]] into the new [[City of Toronto]]. A 1:2 proportioned version of De Santis' flag was adopted by the new City of Toronto in 1999.

== Description ==
[[File:Fireboat William Lyon Mackenzie -- Toronto.jpg|thumb|''[[William Lyon Mackenzie (fireboat)|William Lyon Mackenzie]]'' a fireboat of [[Toronto Fire Services]], with an [[Ensign (flag)|ensign]] variant of the flag of Toronto]]
The flag of Toronto includes a white outline of the twin towers of the [[Toronto City Hall]] slightly left-of-centre on a blue field. The red [[maple leaf]] from the Canadian flag sits at the base of the towers, representing the city council chambers. The shape of the space above and between the towers suggests the letter 'T', the city's initial.<ref name=citytor>{{cite web|url=https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/awards-tributes/tributes/history-of-city-symbols/|title=History of City Symbols|publisher=City of Toronto|website=www.toronto.ca|year=2018|access-date=18 March 2018}}</ref> The design adopted by the City of Toronto in 1999 is proportioned at 1:2, although its original design created by De Santis was proportioned at 2:3.<ref name=citytor/>

As a municipal flag, the flag of Toronto follows the [[flag of Canada]], the flags of other sovereign countries, and flags of provinces and territories in Canadian flag etiquette.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/awards-tributes/tributes/flag-raising-half-masting/|website=www.toronto.ca|year=2022|publisher=City of Toronto|title=Flag-Raising & Half-Masting}}</ref>

A variation of this flag is used by [[Toronto Fire Services]] [[Fireboats of Toronto|fireboats]]. The marine [[Ensign (flag)|ensign]] consists of the city's flag in the upper [[Glossary of vexillology|canton]], with a [[lifebuoy]] on a two-tone blue background.

== History ==
===Former City of Toronto===
An early flag of Toronto was designed by [[Eric Arthur]] and his son, and adopted in 1967 by the [[Old Toronto|former City of Toronto]].<ref>{{cite news|title=New City Flag Disgusts the Mayor|newspaper=Toronto Daily Star|date=2 May 1967|pages=42–45}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/objects/232079|title=City hall guides Sally Lester (left) and Jacqueline Kappen show Toronto's new blue-and-white city flag, which Mayor William Dennison says isn't a flag at all|publisher=Toronto Public Library|access-date=23 February 2022|year=2022|website=digitalarchive.tpl.ca}}</ref> It featured the [[Coat of Arms of Toronto#Toronto|city's coat of arms]] imposed on a blue and white field. The design was criticized by the then [[mayor of Toronto]], [[William Dennison (Canadian politician)|William Dennison]].<ref name=citytor/>

On 28 August 1974, a committee was appointed by [[Toronto City Council]] to design a new flag. A competition to design a new flag was launched later that year that was open to all residents of [[Metropolitan Toronto]]. More than 700 submissions were received, more than half of which incorporated a maple leaf. A flag design committee, headed by Robert Woadden of the [[City of Toronto Archives]], was created to select submissions from the competition.<ref name=citytor/>

The committee eventually submitted its selection to the city council on 6 November 1974, where its members unanimously voted for a design submitted by Renato De Santis, a 21-year-old graphic design student at [[George Brown College]]. On 7 November 1974, a flag-raising ceremony was conducted outside Toronto City Hall, where De Santis also received a prize of $500 for winning the competition. The flag used during the flag-raising was later stolen from the flagpole.<ref name=citytor/>

===Amalgamated Toronto===
{{multiple image|total_width=330|header=Proposed flags for the new City of Toronto|image1=Proposed flag of Toronto (1997).svg|alt1=|caption1=A design recommended and preferred by city staff in 1997.|image2=Proposed flag of Toronto (1999).svg|alt2=|caption2=A design created by a graphic designer during the 1999 flag design competition.}}
In 1997, a new design competition was launched to find a new flag for the new amalgamated City of Toronto to be formed on 1 January 1998.{{efn|name=amalga}} The design competition in 1997 laid out more specific criteria than the competition in 1974, with designs being limited to three colours and a proportion of 1:2. The competition had a prize of $3000. However, no prize was ever awarded, with city council approving none of the 161 designs submitted they received.<ref name=citytor/>

After the design competition, Toronto City Council asked city design staff to submit their own proposals. The council eventually selected a design recommended by councillor [[Brad Duguid]]. During the council's review of staff designs, De Santis had suggested his original design be modified to fit the 1:2 proportions desired by the city council. The two designs were put to the public during an open council meeting in November 1999, with De Santis' design being received the most favourably by the public in attendance. The council voted to adopt De Santis' modified old design by a vote of 31 to 14.<ref name=citytor/>

== Flags of Metropolitan Toronto ==
{{see also|Flag of Scarborough}}
From 1954 to 1998, the former city of Toronto and its surrounding municipalities formed a part of an [[Regional municipality|upper-tier]] municipal government known as Metropolitan Toronto.

By the end of the 1970s, Metropolitan Toronto, along with its six lower-tier municipalities, had adopted regional or municipal flags to represent their respective jurisdictions. [[East York]] was the last municipality in Metropolitan Toronto to adopt a municipal flag, having adopted a design in 1978 after holding a flag design contest.<ref>{{cite book|title=East York 1924–1997: Toronto's Garden of Eden|year=2018|publisher=Friesen Press|last=Alan|first=Redway|page=18|isbn=9781525529399}}</ref>

===Metropolitan Toronto===
[[File:Flag of Metropolitan Toronto.svg|thumb|Flag for [[Metropolitan Toronto]]]]
The Metropolitan Toronto government eventually adopted its own flag, which consisted of the region's six-ringed emblem on the left side, representing Metropolitan Toronto's six regions centred vertically on a blue and green background. Use of the Metropolitan Toronto flag was discontinued in 1998 with the dissolution of Metropolitan Toronto and the amalgamation of its lower-tier municipalities into the new City of Toronto.

Proposals have been made to reintroduce a modified version of the Metropolitan Toronto flag as a new flag of Toronto, with its supporters claiming the design better represents the various areas amalgamated into the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://streeter.ca/toronto/featured/petition-aims-to-bring-back-metro-toronto-flag-with-changes/|title=Petition aims to bring back Metro Toronto flag — with changes|last=Hanagan|first=Dennis|website=streeter.ca|publisher=Streeter|date=3 November 2021|access-date=24 February 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal bar|Ontario|Canada}}
* [[List of Canadian flags]]
* [[List of city flags in North America]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commonscat|Flags of Toronto}}
* {{FOTW|id=ca-on-to|title=Toronto, Ontario}}

{{Toronto}}
{{Canadian flags}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toronto, Flag of}}
[[Category:Culture of Toronto|Flag]]
[[Category:Municipal government of Toronto|Flag]]
[[Category:Flags of cities in Ontario]]
[[Category:Flags introduced in 1999|Toronto]]
[[Category:Flags adopted through competition]]
[[Category:Flags introduced in 1974|Toronto]]
[[Category:Flags with blue, red and white]]