Phthursday Musings: The People Speak and We Deliver!

I’ve got some stuff to catch up on, like the end of the Little League season and maybe some thoughts on some things political, but… all that might have to wait.

You see, by popular demand, by which I mean someone politely requested it, for as long as I can make this work without straining credulity, not that I would ever do such a thing, I am pleased to announce the debut of: the Phthursday Flag.

Here, verily, is the first official… eh, I should be more precise, and say, this is the official first… Phthursday Flag!

That’s right, amigos, the first Phthursday Flag is the flag of Saskatchewan.

Several years ago we were walking in the old neighborhood and there was a yard sale, and one of the things they were selling was a full-sized flag, like three feet long or so, but I didn’t recognize it. And it was the flag of Saskatchewan. And I almost bought it because it was so weird that it was there. And, also, it’s kind of a weird flag! But what was I going to do with a Saskatchewan flag? My older, more sensible self noted how all my other flags are consigned to a bin. So I walked on.

The flag has stuck in my mind over time though. The green and yellow combination is a bold look a la a Packer, and the flower is… well, it is very interesting, it looks like some guy just drew a flower and said, hey, here’s your flag!

And as it turns out that might be more or less what happened. We know this because of the wonderful Wikipedia page devoted to the Flag of Saskatchewan.

Instead of describing the flag as having a big green stripe on top of a big yellow stripe with a flower and a coat of arms, we get this amazing description:

Now, you may well ask: fimbriated argent? To which my best reply is to note that the band Caustic Resin covered Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up” on 1998’s The Medicine Is All Gone, which in turn led me to find this live video of Caustic Resin joined by one-time Dinosaur Jr. bassist Mike Johnson, none of which, to the best of my knowledge, has anything to do with Saskatchewan, or for that matter heraldry:

The best thing about the Wikipedia page though is this:

Friends, I’ve seen a lot of Wikipedia pages in my time, and finding that there is a complete entry for Anthony Drake, whose greatest claim to fame was designing the flag of Saskatchewan, is truly astonishing. I mean, look at the Venn diagram of categories to which we can assign Anthony Drake, and ask yourself, who else is in the middle of this?

I am truly impressed by the dedication of Wikipedia contributor Andymcteddybear who painstakingly ensured that Anthony Drake would get his dues.

Also, I am thoroughly fascinated by the idea that Anthony Drake designed a flag, promptly left the country, only to return as a hero 50 years later. You can’t make that up.

Oh crikey, but we’re not done.

The Flag of Saskatchewan page also gives us the Standard of the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan:

Accompanying this is a stupendous explanation:

I am imagining a scenario here where Her Honour the Honourable Bernadette McIntyre SOM, the current lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, so desperately wants to exert heraldric precedence that she constantly invites Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon CC CMM COM OQ CD over for Saskatoon berry pie. Eh: you might better know the Saskatoon berry as the western serviceberry:

Now, the Saskatchewan flag would not be what it is if not for the presence of the western red lily - that’s lilium philadelphicum to you, pal - so a word or two about this lovely flower may be in order.

The western red lily is also known as the Philadelphia lily - as the taxonomic name suggested - even though, apparently, it’s not found in Pennsylvania. To borrow from Pink Floyd: Wot’s… uh the deal?

Get this: there is somehow an official music video for “Wot’s… Uh the Deal?”.

Now see here: I somehow wound up on iNaturalist.com where I found that, as of META-SPIEL publication time, the top identifier of the western red lily is one Morgan Stickrod… and I’ll bet Mr. Stickrod has never even had a Saskatoon berry pie! He is a busy botanist, though, as according to Discogs, he is or has been a member or associate member of numerous bands, including Kreamy ‘Lectric Santa. He does not appear to be in this video, but that’s not stopping me from sharing it, because, well, I found it, and once found:

I know what at least a couple of you are thinking, and I was thinking the same thing.

But, really, who’s to say? Who is to say?

Now, look. I can’t promise that every Phthursday Flag is going to lead to such riveting content. I mean, I know, I’ve really set the bar quite high here, it’s like… a vexil version of Linsanity. Sort of like this:

Anyway. Saskatchewan. Cool.

I had meant to write about something entirely different here, but I don’t think there’s anything that could possibly be done to improve this installment, except to include the official provincial song of Saskatchewan, except it apparently doesn’t exist, so here’s world renowned recording artist Kiefer Sutherland and his band performing “Saskatchewan”, which I assume is what you’ve been expecting out of this piece all along.