'Flabbergasted' flag designer returns to Saskatchewan to see creation

Anthony Drake remembers spotting an advertisement, in early 1968, asking people in the province to submit a design for the Saskatchewan flag.

"I'll have a go at this," was his reaction at the time, he said Wednesday while on a visit to the province.

Forty-seven years ago Drake, who is from England, was in Saskatchewan working as a teacher in the town of Hodgeville, about 280 kilometres south of Saskatoon.

At the time, the province launched a contest seeking a unique flag for Saskatchewan and the advertisement for the competition caught his eye.

"I probably won't win, but it's worth a try," he remembers thinking.

Drake said he devised 13 different combinations of symbols and colours he thought would work for a flag and submitted them to officials in Regina.

In the end, some 4,000 designs were considered. The winning flag was one created by Drake.

However by the time the selection was made — in the spring of 1969 — Drake had already made plans to return to England. He explained that he and his wife, who also had a teaching position in rural Saskatchewan, had just started a family and wanted to be back home.

He remembers being quite surprised that he had won, as he had almost forgotten about having entered the design contest.

"I was so flabbergasted," he said. He was still in Hodgeville, but not for long. Jobs were awaiting in England.

"I'd already planned and paid for the trip back home," he said. "Winning the competition made it a very awkward situation."

Drake said they had little choice but to miss the formal raising of the new flag in September of 1969.

"I regret to this day what happened," he said.

When the story of the Hodgeville connection to the Saskatchewan flag was uncovered a few years ago, a concerted effort was made to catch up to Drake and have him visit the province.

Drake is now enjoying a jam-packed tour of the province, meeting all sorts of people to talk about the flag.

His arrival, to a throng of well-wishers and media at the airport in Regina Tuesday, was memorable.

"I was gobsmacked. Almost stunned," he said.