The Canada Coat of Arms, or Arms of Canada, were originally adopted by proclamation of His Majesty King George V in 1921. Today, they are used to preserve traditions and inspire love of country. This was especially true on the battlefield where coat of arms made it possible to distinguish allies from enemies. In the Middle Ages, coats of arms served as a sort of identification card. Today, thanks to conservation and silk hats, the beaver – the largest rodent in Canada – is alive and well all over the country. Luckily, about that time, Europeans took a liking to silk hats and the demand for beaver pelts all but disappeared. During its peak, 100,000 pelts were being shipped to Europe each year the Canadian beaver was in danger of being wiped out. There were an estimated six million beavers in Canada before the start of the fur trade.
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Le Canadien, a newspaper published in Lower Canada Footnote 1, featured the beaver in its masthead.Sir Sandford Fleming featured the beaver on the first Canadian postage stamp – the Three Penny Beaver – in 1851.
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The Hudson’s Bay Company put four beavers on the shield of its coat of arms in 1678 to show how important the hard-working rodent was to the company.Sir William Alexander, who was granted title to Nova Scotia in 1621, was the first to include the beaver in a coat of arms.The trade of beaver pelts proved so profitable that many Canadians felt compelled to pay tribute to the buck-toothed animal. Both English and French fur traders were soon selling beaver pelts in Europe at 20 times their original purchase price. King Henry IV of France saw the fur trade as an opportunity to acquire much-needed revenue and to establish a North American empire.
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As these hats became more popular, the demand for the pelts grew. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the fashion of the day demanded fur hats, which needed beaver pelts. Historical significance of the beaverĪfter the early European explorers realized Canada was not the spice-rich Orient, the main profit-making attraction was the beaver population. However, the beaver was a part of the Canadian identity long before Parliament passed the National Symbol of Canada Act. The beaver was given official status as an emblem of Canada when “An Act to provide for the recognition of the Beaver ( Castor canadensis) as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada” received royal assent on March 24, 1975. Over the past century, the following symbols have been formally adopted by the Government of Canada and are now considered official symbols of our country.