I thought I heard the Canadian government consisders its old naval ensign flag a hate symbol. Can any leafs here confirm?
It's contextual. The so-called Red Ensign was the flag of Canada before the Fucking Leaf flag was adopted in 1965.
At the time when the official flag was changed, the Conservatives really loved the UK, and really wanted to keep the cuckstamp; they fought tooth and nail to avoid adopting the Fucking Leaf. So continuing to fly the Red Ensign has conservative or right-wing connotations among Anglo-Canadians. Ontario and Manitoba adopted provincial flags resembling the Red Ensign out of anger about the Fucking Leaf.
The reason I say it's contextual is that it probably wouldn't be seen as a hate symbol per say, but it would exacerbate things if present in a 'hateful context.' For example, there was an incident in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where a few autistic off-duty military guys who were a part of the Proud Boys got in a bunch of shit for counter-protesting an Injun protest about a statue of the city's founder (which they eventually got torn down).
They marched into the public square where this was taking place, with a flag bearer carrying the Red Ensign, argued with the protesters for a while, and eventually left. A pic:
I remember not long after this incident took place, I was talking to this faggy FOB immigrant from Paris (former sublessor's boyfriend) and he asked if the Red Ensign is like the Canadian version of the Confederate flag, which I found pretty funny. It's not a flag of rebellion or whatever, and has no contrived associations with slavery, racism, or whatever, it's just the former flag. Maybe what's offensive about it is that it's somewhat exclusive in being a flag for Anglo-Canada, as opposed to the multikulti shithole that the Fucking Leaf represents. Or more generally just a flag of nostalgia for the Canada that existed pre-1965, for a more conservative than nationalistic dimension.
I think the closest parallel might be how the English flag is used within the United Kingdom. The English flag is still used 'legitimately' from time to time, but it's also used by English skinheads et al who dislike how Britain is getting flooded with foreigners, and might feel like the Union Jack doesn't represent them anymore.
