HMCS Labrador's White Ensign

The Royal Canadian Navy icebreaker HMCS Labrador flew this White Ensign during its Arctic service in the mid-1950s.

Labrador was a product of the growing military importance of the Canadian north and of Canada's desire to assert its arctic sovereignty. Entering service in 1954, Labrador departed Halifax, passed through the Northwest Passage across northern Canada, and returned to Halifax by way of the Panama Canal. In subsequent years, the icebreaker helped support the construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line and carried out survey work before being transferred to the Department of Transport in 1957.

White Ensign
CWM 19980028-004