Since when have red and white been Canada's national colours?

Discover Canada records this in one direct sentence. The guide writes: Red and white had been colours of France and England since the Middle Ages and the national colours of Canada since 1921. The year the test wants is therefore 1921.

Two histories converge in 1921. Discover Canada first traces the colours back to the Middle Ages, when red and white were used by France and England — Canada's two founding European peoples. So the colours were already historic across Europe before they became Canadian. Then in 1921, they were declared the official national colours of Canada — formalising what had long been culturally meaningful into a state-level designation.

The 1921 colours preceded the 1965 flag. Discover Canada writes that "a new Canadian flag was raised for the first time in 1965," and that the "red-white-red pattern" on the flag built on the colours that had been Canada's national colours since 1921. So the modern flag's design was a synthesis of older symbolism — the Royal Military College pattern (1876), the European colours of France and England, and the 1921 official national-colour declaration.

1921 fits a wider period of Canadian symbol-formalisation. Discover Canada writes that "as an expression of national pride after the First World War, Canada adopted an official coat of arms and a national motto, A mari usque ad mare." So 1921 sits inside that post-war wave of national-identity declarations: the coat of arms, the national motto, and the colour designation all came in the early 1920s, as Canada formalised its identity following the war's conclusion.

The question is testing whether new citizens know when red and white became Canada's national colours. Discover Canada commits to one year: 1921. The right test answer matches that.

The wrong answer choices each pick a different year. turn-of-the-century is too early — the colours were not yet officially national. 1945 is too late — the colours had already been national for nearly a quarter-century by then. 1965 is the year the new Canadian flag was first raised, but the colours had been national for 44 years by that point. Only 1921 matches.