London: The "Canada Gate" made me proud
After a walk through the pastoral St. James Park friends asked us if we’d like to see Buckingham Palace as it was close by. While not at the top of our list of things to see and do, we said “sure.”
Yes, sometime we do do the popular touristy things.
Made Me Proud
The dull, grey Palace wasn’t very impressive, but when I looked around I saw an amazing wrought iron fence/gate I was immediately attracted to. Upon getting closer, I could see a word that looked like “Canada” and sure enough what had caught my attention was the spectacular “Canada Gate.”
Turns out the “Canada Gate” is part of a series of gates near Buckingham Palace. The gates were a gift from Canada, celebrating its contribution to the then British Empire. The metalwork includes the crests of Canadian provinces.The gate is in the same style as those of Buckingham Palace and bears the coats of arms of the Canadian provinces while in the centre of the gate is the original coat of arms of Canada.
Behind each coat of arms is the story behind the meaning of the various elements. I am guessing the gate is about 25 feet high and 150 feet long. It makes an impressive statement that made me proud to be a Canadian.
Note: If you are interested you can create your own custom Canadian coat of arms pin badges as a commemoration of your trip.
Learn more at: Buckingham Place Gates
The coat of arms of Ontario (left) and Quebec (right) are on the actual gate.
Manitoba’s coat of arms
Coat of arms of Prince Edward Island
Coat of arms of Nova Scotia (left ) and New Brunswick (right)
Coat of arms of Saskatchewan (above) and Alberta (below)
Coat of arms of British Columbia
Canada Gate 101
From Wikipedia: Canada Gate forms part of the Queen Victoria Memorial scheme in London. An entrance to the Green Park, one of the eight Royal Parks in central London, the gate was presented to London by Canada (then the senior Dominion of the British Empire) as part of a vast memorial scheme dedicated to Queen Victoria, who died in 1901.
The entire memorial, more an act of town planning than funerary monument, was designed by Sir Aston Webb. It takes the form of a processional route from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. Beginning at Admiralty Arch, the project takes in The Mall and culminates in a "rond point" before the palace, with Sir Thomas Brock's Victoria Memorial at its centre. The Canada Gate was commissioned, in 1905, along with the gates for Buckingham Palace and two other similar, but smaller gates presented by Australia and South Africa. The commission was won by the Bromsgrove Guild (a company of modern artists and designers associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement) who completed the work and had the gate in situ by 1911.
Learn more at: Canada Gate (wikipedia)
The red tear drop marks the spot of the “Canada Gate.”
Yes there is an actual lock on the gate. Don’t know who has the key!
Last Word
For some reason, the Canada Gate made me feel Canada had more respect internationally at the beginning of the 20th century than it does today - at the beginning of the 21st century.