On memorial days the teacher, as he describes the past events that have helped to make our country strong and keep it free, may well refer to the colours of the flag as reminders of the virtues on which our Empire rests.

For memorial days the following, among others, are suggested: 

FLAG DAYS

Opening and closing of each term

     Jan. 1.—­Municipalities incorporated in Canada, 1842. (To be
     celebrated on the first school day of the new year.)

     Feb. 10.—­Union of the Canadas, 1841.

     March 11.—­First Responsible Ministry, 1848.

     March 14.—­Founding of Upper Canada—­Constitutional Act, 1791.

     March 24.—­Egerton Ryerson’s birthday (1803-1882).

     Empire Day.—­The school day immediately preceding May 24.

     May 24.—­Victoria Day.

     June 3.—­The King’s Birthday, 1865.

     July 1.—­Dominion Day:  Confederation of the Provinces, 1867.

     July 17.—­First Parliament of Upper Canada, 1792.

     September 13.—­Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 1759.

     October 13.—­Battle of Queenston Heights—­Death of Sir Isaac Brock,
     1812.

     October 21.—­Trafalgar Day, 1805.

     December 24.—­Close of the War of 1812-1814, by the Treaty of
     Ghent. (To be celebrated on the last school day before Christmas.)

Other days commemorating events connected with various localities may also be chosen.

For information respecting the flag, teachers are referred to Barlow Cumberland’s History of the Union Jack (latest edition), to the Flag Charts, by Mrs. Fessenden, and to The Flag of Canada, by Sir Joseph Pope.  For the stories of the patron saints of England, Scotland, and Ireland, see Appendix.

THE COLOURS OF THE FLAG

    What is the blue on our flag, boys? 
      The waves of the boundless sea,
    Where our vessels ride in their tameless pride,
      And the feet of the winds are free;
    From the sun and smiles of the coral isles
      To the ice of the South and North,
    With dauntless tread through tempests dread
      The guardian ships go forth.

    What is the white on our flag, boys? 
      The honour of our land,
    Which burns in our sight like a beacon light
      And stands while the hills shall stand;
    Yea, dearer than fame is our land’s great name,
      And we fight, wherever we be,
    For the mothers and wives that pray for the lives
      Of the brave hearts over the sea.

    What is the red on our flag, boys? 
      The blood of our heroes slain,
    On the burning sands in the wild waste lands
      And the froth of the purple main;
    And it cries to God from the crimsoned sod
      And the crest of the waves outrolled,
    That He send us men to fight again
      As our fathers fought of old.