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Dateline: February 19, 2026.

    The design of the Yukon's flag was made official by an Ordinance approved by the Territorial Council on December 1, 1967, which came into effect on March 1, 1968. It was first flown on April 17, 1968, at the Yukon Regional Library in Whitehorse (see a newspaper article about that below).

    As part of the Yukon's celebration of Canada's Centennial in 1967, a flag-designing competition was sponsored by the Whitehorse branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, with a $100 prize. There were over 100 submissions, with the winning design coming from 20-year-old Mr. Lynn Lambert of Destruction Bay. Lambert, a draftsman with the Yukon Electrical Company and graduate of the Yukon Vocational and Technical Training Centre (Yukon College as of March 1983), had submitted 10 designs. The design was sent to heraldic expert Alan Beddoes of Ottawa for the required heraldic description, and although Mr. Beddoes instead designed his own flag and described it, the Yukon committee rejected it.

    The green bar on the flag represents the Yukon forests, white represents the snow and the blue represents the many rivers and lakes in the Territory.

    The Yukon coat of arms in the centre of the flag is a red, blue, gold and white shield surmounted by a malamute standing on a mound of snow. Wavy vertical white and blue stripes represent the Yukon River and the gold-bearing creeks of the Klondike. Red spire-like forms represent the territory's mountains and the gold circles within symbolize mineral resources. At the top of the shield is a cross of St. George in recognition of the early English explorers and a "roundel in vair" as a symbol of the fur trade. The coat of arms was officially approved by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956

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The Whitehorse Star (Whitehorse, Yukon) - Thursday, April 18, 1968

    A small crowd of Yukoners braved the icy blasts Wednesday morning [April 17, 1968] to take part in an historic moment, as Commissioner James Smith officially unfurled the new Yukon flag.

    The Commissioner cut his remarks short before stepping to the flag pole to perform his official duty, as a flurry of applause broke out.

    He said: "For many years now, the lack of a distinctive Yukon Flag has resulted in many requests from interested citizens that one be designed. Because of these requests by the general public and the Territorial Council for a distinctive Yukon Flag, the Whitehorse Branch of the Canadian Legion was requested to hold a flag-designing competition during Centennial Year. This was done and the winner of the competition was Mr. Lynn Lambert of Destruction Bay, Yukon. His design was chosen by a committee made up of the seven Territorial Councillors of the day.

    "The Ordinance to give effect to this choice was passed by Council at the 2nd Session, 1967, was assented to on December 1, 1967 and came into effect on March 1, 1968.

    "The green represents the Yukon forests, white represents the snow and the blue represents the many rivers and lakes in the Territory. The official Coat of Arms and Crest of the Territory are situated above two sprigs of the official Yukon Flower, Epilobium Angustifolium, more commonly known as Fireweed.

    "It is the intention of the Territorial Government to fly this flag on all major Territorial Government Buildings in the Yukon in company with the Canadian flag. It must be stressed that this flag has not been designed, nor is it intended, to replace the official Canadian flag, but rather is a symbol of our Territorial Heritage.

    "It is one more indication of the coming of age of our Territory and I am sure all Yukon citizens will be proud of this distinctive emblem of our part of Canada, and I trust will fly it on all occasions. Securing a particular identity for the Yukon so that we are not just part of the NORTH, has never been easy - this flag should help that identity and I urge all Yukoners to use it to help establish our proper place in the geographical and political make-up of this Dominion of Canada to which we so proudly belong."

NEW YUKON FLAG; Julie Ann Doyle and assistant Territorial Secretary Chris Pearson take a look at the new Yukon Territorial flag before it was officially unfurled Wednesday morning in a public ceremony at the Yukon Regional Library. A supply of about 200 has been received from the manufacturer for the government buildings throughout the territory, but a policy paper is being prepared before they are distributed, to avoid conflict with the new Canadian flag already flown on public buildings. The attractive blue, white and green design displays the territorial coat of arms on the white centre panel. The flag was designed during Centennial Year as a special project of the Royal Canadian Legion here by Lynn Lambert and later received official approval of Yukon Territorial Council.         Star photo

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