Peace, Order, and Good Government - June 30 2026

 

Peace, Order, and Good Government

June 30 2026

I finally replaced that forlorn looking flag.

It had aged badly,

faded and frayed

from time and sun,

its fly edge ragged

from repeatedly snagging

on the pointed branch

of an encroaching tree.

More than undecorative

a ragged banner like that

didn’t just droop on its pole like a pointed finger

accusing me of neglect,

it seemed disrespectful

to the country of my birth.

But now, seeing it snap briskly in a warm summer wind

  — the bold red and white

against a deep blue sky —

I can’t help but wonder about the patriotism

I feel welling up,

a pride of country

I find unbecoming

as a citizen of the world.

Is this feeling small-minded

provincial

xenophobic?

Or unavoidable?

Because we while we are far from perfect

we’ve tried to do good

and are, by fits and starts, getting better.

Whether by deliberate choice

or an accident of birth

we are blessed to inhabit

a welcoming, tolerant, and progressive place

not riven

by ethnicity, religion, or the artificial division

of less enlightened states;

so I have reason to be grateful

as well as proud.

And because it’s just human nature

to need community

identity

the feeling we belong;

flag or not

people will seek out acceptance

set boundaries

fashion a tribe.

Anyway, it’s a pretty flag, as well as simple;

the kind of minimalism

I find attractive 

and like to practice as well

  — two vertical bars

with a maple leaf at its heart.

Who could object to that?

An inoffensive leaf,

glorifying nature

instead of aggrandizing man

or force of arms

or some narrow ideology.

A life-giving leaf

that gives us the air we breathe

and the beauty we crave.

What could be more symbolic 

of an earnest nation-state

that soberly proclaims peace, order, and good government

as its foundational creed?

That sees itself

as a force for good

and example to the world?

I really just wanted to write about my new flag. My impulse was decorative, not patriotic. But then, as the poem says, these feelings come. Especially since tomorrow is, by total coincidence, Canada Day.

I’m suspicious of nationalism. It seems small-minded. But then, while there's xenophobia and strident jingoism, there’s also a healthy patriotism that includes gratitude, an appreciation of history (the good and the bad, as well as the struggle), a sense of duty, and modest pride. But one that also doesn’t bridle at constructive criticism. We hear that defensiveness a lot these days from south of the border, where people who legitimately criticize their country are labelled as “hating America” and being “traitors” by some on the belligerent right.

I’m pleased with some of the descriptors I salted in. I think they reflect our national character: words like earnest, soberly, inoffensive. 

“Peace, order, and good government” — often shortened to the less high-minded sounding “POG” — is lifted from our founding document. Quite a contrast, as has often been pointed out, to its closest American equivalent: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”