Flag Protocol
UBC’s Okanagan campus has four flags in the main courtyard: Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Nation Alliance and The University of British Columbia. The Protocol, Ceremonies and Events team is responsible for the protocol around the use of and (when required) the lowering of flags.
Questions? Contact Protocol, Ceremonies and Events if you have questions regarding flag protocol. If you wish to borrow flags for your campus event, see Event Planning Resources.
Protocol and Lowering
For the rules for flying the Canadian Flag, visit the Canadian Heritage site. The rules for flying other flags at UBC are based on this same etiquette.
Flags at UBC Okanagan may be lowered for:
- alignment with Canadian Heritage protocol
- alignment with university protocol
- the passing of a member of the campus community (in accordance with the family’s wishes)
Flags at UBC Okanagan may be replaced for:
- days of significance (e.g. Pride week)
Flag Notifications
International Transgender Day of Visibility 2025
David McLean, O.B.C., LL.D.
J. Peter Meekison, O.C., LL.D.
See past flag notifications
Musqueam and Okanagan Nation Alliance Flags
Each campus of UBC sits on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of its host nation: Musqueam in Vancouver, and the Syilx Okanagan Nation in the Okanagan.
On Sept. 27, 2018, the Okanagan campus raised the Okanagan Nation Alliance flag for the first time on its permanent pole in the courtyard. And in Vancouver, the Musqueam flag was raised on its permanent pole on February 25, 2019.
The flags formally signify UBC’s recognition of Indigenous peoples in whose lands the university resides, and add to a growing visible Indigenous presence on both campuses that includes bilingual signs providing alternate street names in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and nsyilxcn Indigenous languages.
Each campus has marked National Indigenous Peoples Day by temporarily raising the flag of its host First Nation in place of the university’s flag.