Canada 150 creates flag frenzy in Edmonton

Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation is turning out to be a boon to one Edmonton business that specializes in flags.

"It's like Christmas for the flag industry," said Phyllis Bright, owner of The Flag Shop.

So far this month, Bright said she's sold over $15,000 worth of Canada 150 merchandise, ranging from toothpicks to large flags.

That's nearly double what the store sold last month, she said.

One of the store's more popular items is the Canada 150 temporary tattoo with more than 3,000 sold in June. 

Bright has even had to reorder Canadian flags for the first time after running out of them earlier.

"We don't get a lot of walk-in traffic other times of the year but now we can have line ups and so it's difficult but it's a lot of fun," Bright said.

Summerside shows off national pride

Rhonda Navratil is one of the people responsible for the run on small Canadian flags in Edmonton.

The organizer behind Canada Flags in Summerside, Navratil has been planting Canadian flags in the lawns and planters of the south Edmonton community since 2008. 

"It's just such a great Canada Day kind of thing," she said.

The initiative has grown over the past nine years, she said, and now nearly every home in the neighbourhood is sporting a flag.

This year she and about 70 volunteers planted nearly 4,000 Canadian flags.

"I found that people just really wanted to help," Navratil said. "People would jump out of their cars when we were flagging and say 'Can we help you?' "

Navratil, a real estate agent, pays for all the flags herself.

"I believe when you live in a community and you work in a community, you try to make it better in some way," she said.

Luisa Nery Rivera Dubon volunteered to plant flags this year for the first time. 

"It's so, so nice and it brings the neighbourhood together," she said.

Spending three hours Monday placing hundreds of flags in lawns and planters was tiring, Rivera Dubon said.

"Everything hurts," she laughed.