I am Canadian. The maple leaf is the symbol of my country and the centre of its flag. I am curious how this came to be. Why a leaf? I read that the beaver used to be the more prevalent symbol early on, but the leaf has always been at or near the top. As far as I am aware we are the only country with a leaf as our symbol.
It seems the symbol was used already in 1700's by catholics in Quebec. Later in 1834 catholic and patriotic society Saint-Jean-Baptiste took the symbol.
There must be other countries with some leaves in their flags. Does the Netherlands have the Marijuana a leaf? Just asking!