Hybrid Canada-U,S, flag touches a nerve with some on the eve of Canada Day

By CAROLINE BOSCH MAN — Lethbridge Herald

Bruce Haig was quite impressed all around with Lethbridge's newest dollar store when he went in to have a look around, except one small thing sparked his Canadian ire.

There, just inside the store's front entrance, was a split flag, half-American, half-Canadian. The flag's also been spotted at at least one other dollar store in the city.

"First of all I couldn't believe it. It was a bit of a shock to say the least," says Bruce Haig, a former social studies teacher turned historian and city resident. He couldn't bring himself to buy one to show his wife until the next day.

"It's disgusting. I can't bear to keep it flapping; I have to roll it up," Haig says.

Dollar Giant, a Canadian retailer, took the flags off the shelf shortly after being contacted by The Herald.

"This flag wasn't ordered by Dollar Giant," says Joe Calvano, president. "I'm assuming it was substituted by the vendor. We will be sending them back to the vendor."

He explained the store typically carries only Canadian flags, except in some stores close to the border where customers sometimes ask for the Stars and Stripes.

Calvano hadn't seen the flag himself but the tag indicates they are made in China. He suspects they were likely ordered by a manufacturer in Toronto. The split flags aren't illegal but they're not something Dollar Giant orders and he says their appearance at the Lethbridge store was a fluke.

Haig says he brought the flag to the attention of The Herald not to stir up any anti-American sentiment but to see what other people think about it. Nonetheless, he wonders what kind of message it sends with Canada Day just around the corner.

"A flag is a flag. You don't mess with them," Haig says. "I guess (the split flag) could have all kinds of connotations to it."

Some Canadians are already worried about being gobbled up by the U.S. and he suspects even some Americans might be upset by it.

"Would they put something like that up on Independence Day?"

Transplanted American Tanya Drollinger agrees a flag is symbolic of a country but she's not appalled by it.

"I can see how people would be upset about it but I think people in Canada and the United States have more common goals than disparate goals," says the management professor at the University of Lethbridge. She noted the flag developer may have been looking for a way to illustrate the harmonious aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Lethbridge MP Rick Casson agreed the motive was likely to show co-operation, but using half of each nation's emblem might not be the best way to reach that end.

"If you want to show cooperation put one flag up beside the other," he said. "I don't think either country would appreciate (a split flag) very much."

June Hepple-Kometz wasn't offended when shown a photo of the bastardized flag, but the 20-year organizer with the Lethbridge Celebrate Canada Society thought it inappropriate as well. Half-American' herself, she respects our neighbours, to the south and has no problem with the two flags flying together - but separately.

"I am flattered our flag is so good they should want it to be part of theirs," says Hepple-Kometz, breaking into a smile.

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