NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

The Northwest Territories are above British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan and between Nunavut and the Yukon Territory.

The capital city of the Northwest Territories is Yellowknife.

The population is 43 300 (2008).

Click here to see a clear map of the Northwest Territories.

The flag for the Northwest Territories has blue on the sides representing the lakes and waters of the Territories. The white in the middle is the same size as both the blue parts put together and it stands for the ice and snow.

In the middle is their shield. The top of the shield is white standing for the polar ice pack in the North and the blue wavy line across stands for the Northwest Passage which early explorers searched for. The green section at the bottom left stands for the forests and the tree line while the red stands for the barren lands up North. The gold bars in the forest section stand for minerals and the white fox stands for furs, both of which helped bring money to the North.

The Mountain Avens was chosen as the Northwest Territories provincial flower because it is very common and grows on high or rocky ground in the Northern tundra. This flower is a member of the rose family that grows close to the ground.

To learn more about the Mountain Avens flower symbol please click here.

Photo courtesy of the Northwest Territories Government.

As the bird symbol for the Northwest Territories they chose the Gyrfalcon, an expert hunter and powerful flyer. These large birds spend their winters in the North on the arctic tundra.

To learn more about the Gyrfalcon please click here.

Photo courtesy of the Woodland Park Zoo.

This is presently the coat of arms for the Northwest Territories but it is going to be changed and so is the flag. The change is taking place because the Northwest Territories has been split into two parts now, Nunavut being the other part, and they would like to represent the new territory with new symbols.

This coat of arms contains the shield with two narwhals at the top guarding the compass rose which stands for the magnetic North Pole.

The Northwest Territories tartan has four colours:

White = the snow
Green = the forest
Yellow = the birch trees in the fall
Blue = the lakes, river and ocean.