A shared symbol.
Distinct peoples.
The Union Jack is part of this flag’s story. First Nations brought their own nationhood to Treaty. Follow how the design developed, then what the relationship means.
ILLUSTRATED HISTORY · TREATY 6
The Treaty
Six flag.
A flag. A promise.
A living relationship.
Follow its colours through history. See the people, places and Treaty relationship behind the design—and the connection to flags around the world.
Scroll into the story Explore the medal →
TREATY 6 · 1876
Treaty 6 medal
Turn the medal to view the handshake and Queen Victoria portrait.
Silver · 76.4 mm diameter · J.S. & A.B. Wyon
Open the medal viewer →BEFORE 1876
Nations first.
Always.
Long before Treaty Six, First Nations had languages, laws, governance and relationships with the land. Their histories do not start at a treaty table.
The Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations describes Treaty-making as an agreement between existing Nations. Entering Treaty did not create their nationhood.
The story begins with people, place and belonging.
Learn from the Confederacy’s Treaty history ↗
THE FOUNDATIONNations before Treaty
LanguagesLawsGovernanceLand
Existing Nations → Treaty relationship → Continuing Nations
1606 · THE FIRST UNION FLAG
Two crosses.
One royal flag.
England’s flag carries the red cross of St George. Scotland’s carries the white diagonal cross of St Andrew.
In 1603, James VI of Scotland also became James I of England. In 1606, a royal flag combined their crosses. The kingdoms shared a monarch; their parliamentary union followed in 1707.
England’s flag and the Union Jack are different flags.
Source: The Royal Household · Union Jack ↗ · UK Parliament · Union of the Crowns ↗
THE DESIGN TAKES SHAPE1606
EnglandSt George’s cross
ScotlandSt Andrew’s cross
A CLOSER VIEW · THE MATERIAL
From a design
to a flag.
A flag makes a design visible on cloth. These views show pieces, stitching and finished seams so you can picture how separate colours can become one object.
The illustration explains a craft process. The people and workshop are imagined; they are not documented makers of the 1606 flag.
The design is historical.
The workshop is illustrative.
THREE VIEWSCloth · stitches · assembly
1801 · ANOTHER LAYER
The Union Jack
we recognise.
When Great Britain and Ireland united in 1801, the red diagonal cross associated with St Patrick was added. This created the familiar Union Jack design.
St Patrick’s cross is a historic symbol used for Ireland here. It is not the present Republic of Ireland’s flag. Wales has no separate symbol in this design.
A NEW RED DIAGONAL1801
Union Flag1606 design
St Patrick’s crossHistoric Ireland symbol
1876 · TREATY SIX
A meeting
between Nations.
Treaty Six was concluded near Fort Carlton on 23 and 28 August, and near Fort Pitt on 9 September 1876. Other Nations joined through later adhesions.
The written Treaty promised a flag and medal to each recognised Chief. In his teaching about the flag, Tyrone Tootoosis Sr. identifies the flags presented to signatory Chiefs as Union Jacks.
The written document is one record. First Nations’ oral histories and understandings are essential to learning what Treaty means.
A DATE TO REMEMBER1876
FORT CARLTON23 & 28AUGUST 1876
FORT PITT9SEPTEMBER 1876
AUGUST 1876 · THE CARLTON COUNCIL
Out on the land.
Before the council tent.
Peter Erasmus recalled a large semicircle of people seated on the grass before the Governor’s tent, which stood on a slight rise outside Fort Carlton.
Morris placed the Cree camp about two miles from the fort, amid trees, hay marshes and small lakes. These accounts guide the setting shown here.
Mistawasis and Ahtahkakoop were leading Cree negotiators. The Crown commissioners were Alexander Morris, James McKay and William J. Christie. Métis interpreter Peter Erasmus played a crucial role. Negotiations involved many more leaders and community members than a small table meeting.
This illustration reconstructs the documented setting. Faces, exact clothing, the number of visible people and precise placement are not established. It shows discussion, not a reenactment of ceremony. Fort Pitt was a separate September gathering.
Erasmus’s recollections ↗ · Morris’s account ↗ · Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation ↗ · OTC biographies ↗
SOURCE-INFORMED RECONSTRUCTIONThe gathering near Carlton
Elevated groundCouncil tentSeated semicircle
THE CONTEMPORARY FLAG
History, brought
together.
The contemporary Treaty Six flag places a treaty medallion and 1876 over the Union Jack, with the words Treaty No. 6 Territory.
These elements remember Treaty. This is a modern design—not an image of the flag handed out in 1876.
Public flag raisings are documented by 2013. That tells us it was in use then; it does not establish its original designer or exact creation date.
University flag raising, 2013 ↗ · Saskatoon Tribal Council report ↗
THREE THREADS OF REMEMBRANCETreaty 6
01 Union Jack02 Treaty medal03 1876
THE MEDAL & THE MEANING
More than
a handshake.
In Tyrone Tootoosis Sr.’s explanation, the medal’s handshake speaks to friendship and respectful relations. The sun, grass and river imagery expresses the enduring nature of those commitments.
The Confederacy identifies continuing responsibilities, including Treaty provisions concerning education, the medicine chest and help during famine and pestilence.
A relationship to understand.
A promise to keep learning about.
Read Tootoosis’s full teaching ↗ · Confederacy’s Treaty principles ↗
RELATIONSHIP, NOT JUST A SYMBOLEnduring
FriendshipRespectContinuity
SHARED SHAPES · DISTINCT HISTORIES
Now you can
see the connection.
The Union Jack fills the Treaty Six flag’s background. On the Canadian Red Ensign, Australian flag and New Zealand flag, it occupies the upper-left quarter, called the canton.
These designs record different relationships with the Crown and British history. They do not descend from Treaty Six or make their peoples one ancestry.
St George’s cross
The Union Jack
Since 15 February 1965
England’s flag is one part of the Union Jack. Today’s Canadian flag has its own maple leaf design.
FOLLOW THE GOLD OUTLINESOne shared design element
A LIVING RELATIONSHIP
Different peoples.
A shared responsibility.
Treaty Six can hold pride in ancestors who negotiated as Nations, and in people who carry the relationship forward.
The Office of the Treaty Commissioner teaches that we are all Treaty people. First Nations and other people living on Treaty land have a relationship to understand and responsibilities to uphold. That relationship is not a skin colour.
First Nations’ specific Treaty rights and distinct nationhood remain central. Colonial harms and unfulfilled promises are also part of the history we need to understand.
Know the history.
Honour the relationship.
Carry it forward.
Office of the Treaty Commissioner ↗ · Confederacy’s Treaty principles ↗
PAST · PRESENT · FUTUREThe relationship continues.
First NationsThe CrownContinuing responsibilities
THE EVIDENCE BEHIND THE STORYSources & image credits
This educational resource brings together public records and attributed First Nations explanations. It does not speak on behalf of a Nation. Source review: 27 September 2026.
- Confederacy of Treaty No. 6 First Nations · Treaty history and fundamental principlesFirst Nations’ account of the relationship, nationhood and Treaty responsibilities.
- Tyrone Tootoosis Sr. on the Treaty Six flag · Cree Literacy Network, 2013Attributed interpretation and account of the University of Saskatchewan flag raising. The flag song is not reproduced here.
- Written Treaty No. 6 · Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs CanadaDates, signatories and the written flag-and-medal provision; read alongside oral histories.
- Saskatoon Tribal Council · 2013–2014 Annual Report (PDF)Tribal Chief’s message documents the October 2013 City Hall flag raising.
- The Royal Household · The Union JackThe components and history of the Union Flag.
- Canadian Heritage · History of the National Flag of CanadaRed Ensign history and adoption of the maple leaf flag in 1965.
- Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet · Australian National FlagFlag symbolism and development.
- New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage · FlagsNew Zealand flag history and symbolism.
- Peter Erasmus · Buffalo Days and Nights, selected recollectionsRetrospective eyewitness account of the outdoor council and interpretation.
- Alexander Morris · The Treaties of Canada, Chapter IXA commissioner’s account, read alongside First Nations sources and Erasmus.
- Office of the Treaty Commissioner · We Are All Treaty People
Treaty Six flag rendering: Srdkurtz / Wikimedia Commons, CC0. The medal detail is a magnified view of this rendering. This is a user-created rendering, not an official design master.
Generated artwork: white-background craft and council plates. The council setting follows Erasmus and Morris; exact faces, dress and placement are unverified. The workshop is illustrative. No modern portraits are used. Read the reconstruction evidence.
Design-history limit: No primary record identifying the contemporary flag’s original designer or exact creation date was established. This story explains the visual connection and historical relationship; it does not claim an unbroken chain of ownership of one physical flag.
Additional flag artwork and provenance: asset credits. Detailed research: Treaty Six source notes and flag-history source notes.