George Francis Gillman Stanley (1907–2002) was a Canadian historian, soldier, and public servant best known for designing the Canadian flag and contributing to Canadian military history.
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Stanley earned a B.A. from the University of Alberta (1929) before studying at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, obtaining a B.A., M.A., M.Litt., and D.Phil. His academic career began at Mount Allison University (1936–40,) where he later served as Chancellor (1994–99.)
During World War II, Stanley was a historian for the Canadian Army, rising to Deputy Director of the Historical Section. Afterward, he became the first Chair of Canadian History at the University of British Columbia (1947–49) and later Head of History at the Royal Military College of Canada (1949–69.) He served as Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (1981–87.)
Stanley authored influential books, including The Birth of Western Canada: A History of the Riel Rebellions (1936,) Canada’s Soldiers: The Military History of an Unmilitary People (1954,) Louis Riel (1963,) and To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation: Americans and Canadians in Northwest North America (2000.) His 1964 memorandum proposing the red maple leaf flag led to its adoption in 1965.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by George Stanley
To live, mankind must recover its essential humanness and its innate divinity; men must recover their capacity for humility, sanity and integrity; soldier and civilians must see their hope in some other world than one completely dominated by the physical and chemical sciences.
—George Stanley
Topics: Religion
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