At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the settlements of New France had attained a population of about 18,000. Also by this time, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the Canadiens along the Saint Lawrence River.[1]
Its popularity with French Canadians continued, and was reinforced when, at the inaugural meeting of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste in 1834,[2] the maple leaf was one of numerous emblems proposed to represent the society. Speaking in its favour, Jacques Viger, the first mayor of Montreal, described the maple as "the king of our forest; ... the symbol of the Canadian people."
The maple leaf finally became the central national symbol with the introduction of the Canadian flag (designed by George F. G. Stanley) in 1965, which uses a highly-stylized eleven-pointed maple leaf, referring to no specific species of maple. Earlier official uses of a maple leaf design often used over 30 points and a short stem. The one chosen is a generic maple leaf representing the ten species of maple tree native to Canada—at least one of these species grows natively in every province.[3] The maple leaf is currently used on the Canadian flag, logos of various Canadian based companies and the logos of Canadian sports teams. Examples include Air Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL franchise and the Toronto FC soccer club.
