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| The Beaver
This symbol is found on five-cent coins, which were
first placed in circulation in 1937. The beaver motif
was designed by G.E. Kruger Gray.
The beaver has a very long history as a symbol in
Canada. The Hurons used it as the totem of their tribe,
and the Natives used an emblem of the beaver to sign
treaties with the first colonists.
Once the first European explorers realized that Canada
was not the spice-rich Orient they were seeking, the
country’s main commercial attraction became
the beaver, which numbered in the millions. King Henry
IV of France saw the fur trade as an opportunity to
acquire much-needed revenue and to establish a colony
in North America. |
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| By 1678, trade in beaver pelts
was so lucrative that the Hudson’s Bay Company
decided to honour the little animal by putting its
image on the shield of the company’s coat of
arms. This shield consisted of four beavers separated
by a red St. George’s Cross.
The beaver first appeared as a heraldic symbol of
Canada on the coat of arms granted to Sir William
Alexander by King Charles 1 in 1633. In 1673, the
Comte de Frontenac, Governor General of New France,
proposed that the beaver be included in the armorial
bearings of Quebec City. In 1833, soon after the city
was incorporated, the beaver was also adopted as an
element of the arms of Montreal. |
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| The beaver, universally recognized
as the symbol of Canada, is found among other things
on our 5-cent coin and on the first three-cent postage
stamp. Hundreds of lakes, towns, rivers, and hills
also bear the name of this remarkable animal.
The beaver attained official status as an emblem of
Canada on 24 March 1975, when an "act to provide
for the recognition of the beaver (castor canadensis)
as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada" received
royal assent.
For more information on the beaver symbol, please
see the following sources:
Environment Canada: www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/hww-fap/beaver/beaver.php
Royal Canadian Mint: www.mint.ca
Marquis, Yvon (1985), La monnaie canadienne : son
histoire, sa collection, page 33
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