Red Ball Cap with Maple Leaf

In 1834, the St. Jean Baptiste Society, a French Canadian association founded to strengthen their linguistic and cultural heritage, made the maple leaf its emblem. Jacques Viger, the first mayor of Montreal, Quebec described the maple as “the king of our forest; … the symbol of the Canadian people.” Two years later, in 1836, Le Canadien, a newspaper published in Lower Canada, suggested that the maple leaf would be a suitable emblem for Canada.