How Was The 90th Anniversary Of The Battle Of Vimy Ridge Commemorated?

The 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge--a decisive battle during World War I, where Canadian and British forces defeated the German army--took place on April 9, 2007 in France. Canada was represented by Queen Elizabeth II, who was introduced to the assembled crowd as the "Queen of Canada," as well as Prince Philip, who came dressed in the Royal Canadian Regiment 's uniform, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The French Republic was represented by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

The 90th anniversary of Vimy Ridge involved the restoration of the Vimy War Memorial, completed in 1936, and its rededication by the Queen. The Queen spoke in English and French, as did Prime Minister Harper, who called the Battle of Vimy Ridge "Canada's creation story."

According to the BBC's estimates, more than half of the assembled crowd was Canadian, including over a thousand high school students from every province, who came to the memorial as part of school trips.

There was some debate as to which flag should be displayed during the ceremonies. There was a movement in Canada to fly the old Red Ensign, instead of the current Maple Leaf Canadian flag. As a compromise, both the Red Ensign and the Canadian flag were flown, next to France's flag. In reality, however, some historians found this problematic, as Canada's official symbol at the time was the Union Flag, just like in Britain, and the Red Ensign was only officially introduced as the Canadian flag in 1924, before being replaced with the Maple Leaf in 1965.

The ceremony also included a prayer, which was said in three languages--first in the Cree First Nations language, followed by an English and a French prayer.