Coast Guard Flags

The middle flag commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Coast Guard.

Condensed from the Official Website:

The origins of a Canadian Coast Guard can be traced to as far back as the 1700s when the first lifeboats and lighthouses were established in Eastern Canada. The various governments that preceded a unified Canada had their own patrol vessels which began to appear along the eastern seaboard and in the Great Lakes in the 1800s. 

In 1868, one year after Confederation, the federal government established the Department of Marine and Fisheries. This department assumed responsibility for marine affairs, including the operation of government vessels and for various elements of marine infrastructure (aids to navigation, lifesaving stations, canals and waterways, marine regulatory bodies and supporting shore infrastructure).

In 1936, responsibility for marine transportation shifted to the Department of Transport.
 
By the 1940s, many organizations and communities pressed the government to form a national coast guard. Ocean commerce expanded tremendously, culminating, with the opening of the St-Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The Canadian Coast Guard was officially created by the Honourable Leon Balcer, the then Minister of Transport on January 26, 1962.

In 1995, in order to achieve cost savings, the Canadian Coast Guard transferred to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in order to gather the two largest civilian fleets within the federal government under one department. DFO Science vessels and the Fisheries Conservation and Protection Fleet were incorporated with the Coast Guard Fleet.

In 2005, the Canadian Coast Guard was officially declared a "special operating agency" of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. At present, the services covered under this arrangement include:
Aids to Navigation
Icebreaking
Search and Rescue
Maritime Security
Environmental Response
Marine Communications and Traffic Services
Scientific Research, and
Waterways Management  

Today, the CCG is not only responsible for the longest coastline of any given country, but it is also responsible for the safe circulation of international commercial ships who cross our borders, the Canadian citizens navigating lakes and oceans during boating season, and for providing services to our Northern communities.