What is the pattern of the Canadian flag?

Discover Canada records this in one direct sentence. The guide writes: A new Canadian flag was raised for the first time in 1965. The red-white-red pattern comes from the flag of the Royal Military College, Kingston, founded in 1876. Red and white had been colours of France and England since the Middle Ages and the national colours of Canada since 1921. The pattern the test wants is therefore red-white-red with a maple leaf.

The flag's design has a layered heritage. Discover Canada traces the red-white-red pattern directly to the Royal Military College in Kingston, which was founded in 1876. The red and white colours were chosen because they had been colours of "France and England since the Middle Ages" — symbolically linking Canada to its two founding European peoples — and were declared "the national colours of Canada since 1921."

The maple leaf at the centre is Canada's signature symbol. Discover Canada calls the maple leaf "Canada's best-known symbol," and notes that "maple leaves were adopted as a symbol by French Canadians in the 1700s" — long before the modern flag. Maple leaves "have appeared" on Canadian emblems and uniforms across centuries; the 1965 flag placed a single red maple leaf at the centre of the red-white-red pattern, finally giving Canada a unique and instantly recognisable national flag.

The 1965 flag replaced the Canadian Red Ensign. Discover Canada writes that "the Canadian Red Ensign served as the Canadian flag for about 100 years" before the maple-leaf flag was raised. The Union Jack remains "our official Royal Flag," a separate symbol from the national flag. So the red-white-red flag with the maple leaf is specifically the modern Canadian national flag — not a historical or royal alternative.

The question is testing whether new citizens recognise the pattern of the modern Canadian flag. Discover Canada commits to one design: red-white-red with a maple leaf. The right test answer matches that.

The wrong answer choices each describe a flag that is not Canadian. Blue, green, stars, and circles are not part of the Canadian flag in Discover Canada's description. Plain red-and-white stripes also miss the maple leaf at the centre. Only the red-white-red pattern with a single maple leaf matches the source.