Text and image(s) from Canadian City Flags,
Raven 18 (2011),
courtesy of the North American Vexillological Association, which
retains copyright. Image(s) by permission of Eugene Ipavec.
The flag of the Hamlet of Igloolik is a Canadian pale design of
blue-white-blue with a naturalistic depiction of a winter scene in the centre,
in light blue, blue, and white. The scene comprises a shelf of ice in white with
blue and light blue details on which stands an igloo in light blue with blue
details. Crossed in front of the igloo and its snowy base stand two Inuit tools
of the hunt on the water, frozen or clear: an unaaq (harpoon) and a kakivak
(trident ice-fishing spear). The harpoon is fitted out with its telltale line,
coiled in loops with perhaps a small weight at its end to attach to a seal bladder
float, the other end leading to the detachable spear point. On the right
stands an Inuit figure, presumably a man, in full winter garb; on the left, a
well-furred, attentive sled dog. Both look back toward the igloo’s entrance,
which has a vague suggestion of a qulliq (interior hearth lamp) in silhouette.
(If so, this is a rare example of a female tool on a flag; another is the ulu on
the flag of Arviat). Mark S. Ritzenhein, Canadian City Flags,
Raven 18,
2011
Igloolik, meaning “houses there” in Inuktitut, is situated on
the flat and barren island of the same name at (according to some) the very
northeast corner of the North American continent. Igloolik Island sits at the eastern approaches to Fury and Hecla Strait, a narrow ice-choked channel
between the upturned snout of the continent and Baffin Island, the fifth largest
island in the world, an island large enough to carry its own significant
ice fields and be mistaken by early European explorers for two separate pieces
of land. Opinions differ on whether igloolik refers to igloo, snow houses, or
to sod houses (the prehistoric remains of which are found on the island), but
the civic flag uses the first. This igloo, constructed in realistic fashion of
multiple snow blocks coloured blue for contrast with the white field, sits on
its own island of snow, ice, or snow-covered land. Igloolik is considered the
most culturally traditional Inuit city in Nunavut, although southern culture
prevails there as well. Mark S. Ritzenhein, Canadian City Flags,
Raven 18,
2011
The flag is an elaboration and revision of the 1985 flag. All such NWT/Nunavut civic flags were
designed in 1985 for the Northwest Territories Exhibition Hall at Vancouver’s
Expo ’86, at the initiative of heraldry enthusiast Michael Moore, then
a deputy minister at the NWT Department of Municipal and Community
Affairs (MACA). The side-bar colours of these Canadian pale designs vary
from dark blue, to green, to brown, and to bright red. The ovoid civic logo
of Arviat was likely derived from a Canadian Community Newspaper Association
logo, awarded in 1983 to News North, the primary newspaper of the
Canadian Arctic, and printed on its masthead for many years. Mark S. Ritzenhein, Canadian City Flags,
Raven 18,
2011
Unknown. Rob Butler, graphic artist at Inkit Graphics in Yellowknife,
NWT, configured the original flag based on ideas and designs supplied
by the local community. Mark S. Ritzenhein, Canadian City Flags,
Raven 18,
2011
1:2 image by
Eugene Ipavec Source: Canadian City Flags, Raven 18
The 1985 version
of Igloolik’s flag does not include the
Inuit man or the sled dog. The harpoon,
unaaq, and trident spear, kakivak, have
more turned detail on their hafts and
points but no telltale line on the harpoon.
The igloo, in light blue with white details, sits on a shelf of snow or
ice with a dark blue frontal margin, and there was no interior detail visible
through the blank, arched entrance. The revisions to this flag—especially the
addition of the man and dog—may have related to the sled-dog revival effort
in Nunavut and Northwest Territories, which eventually failed. Mark S. Ritzenhein, Canadian City Flags,
Raven 18,
2011
![[Igloolik flag]](../images/c/ca-nu-ig-l.gif)
1:2 image by
Eugene Ipavec![[Igloolik flag]](../images/c/ca-nu-igo-l.gif)
1:2 image by
Eugene Ipavec