Human Flower Project

Is This Trillium a Liberal?

Ontario’s new logo may have partisan leanings.

Ontario’s logos, old and new
Photo: Toronto Star

The people of Ontario, Canada, love their wildflowers—in fact, chose a native trillium to represent them as the province’s emblem.

But “to attract new business and investment to create jobs,” some among Ontario’s leadership thought the old trillium logo, designed in 1964, needed freshening up. They paid an ad firm $219,00 for a redesign and got more than they bargained for: floral controversy.

Critics are claiming that the new trillium, an ” A-shaped logo, closely resembles the shape of the trillium embedded in the text of the Ontario Liberal Party‘s trademark.” In fact, the Liberal incumbents did order the new logo and, oops, hired the same PR firm that, according to one source, had done free work for the party in recent elections.

Ontario Liberal Party’s logo

Turns out that political forces in Ontario have been haggling over the trillium for quite some time. “Under the Tories of former premier Bill Davis in the early 1980s, the government popularized the use of a white trillium with a blue background. In the late 1980s, David Peterson, the Liberal premier, came under fire for using a photograph of a red trillium, not the typical white one, on the cover of the provincial budget.”

Here’s a deciduous forest of Canadian Liberal emblems. And here is John Wright’s gallery of Ontario trilliums.

Trillium
Photo: John Wright

The Star posted a variety of citizens’ reactions to the latest trillium tempest.

“I grew up with the original trillium and have identified with it throughout my life. It always gives me a warm feeling when I saw it on a highway or in print,” wrote Scott Lomas of Toronto. Easy, Scott. That’s a logo, we’re talking about, not a religious icon!

“This is totally disgusting, given the almost daily talk about the crisis of our health-care system,” huffs Luca Ballarini, Richmond Hill.

With an eye toward botanical accuracy, Craig Jenson of Newmarket notes, “Trillium petals have rounded ends, not pointed.”

And William Bedford, Toronto, misses the point by transcending it. “The picture of a real trillium on the front page of today’s Star is beautiful, and would make a far better symbol for Ontario than any of the stylized ones, and wouldn’t cost anything.”

 

 

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