🎄 Grey Grades Canada's Flags! (And Merry Xmas!) 🎄

Merry Christmas, internet! I've unwrapped one of the Bonnie B bonus videos for the holidays. It's the Canadian flag tier list, and even if you've seen it before, I've decorated it with, uh, decorations. Hope you like it, and I'll be back after it's over.

Oh Canada, are your provinces and territories looking for flag grades as well? Well, gez, you juniors are going to have to give her living under this brilliant Banner. S tier work, Canada! You created the maple leaf as the most quintessential Canadian symbol by standing it out on bright red, cut by white. Your design is so iconic it defined new vexillological vernacular: the Canadian pale—a center stripe that, unlike other tricolors, covers half the width, giving greater space for grand graphics when you're doing it right or a big banner of words. If you're Iowa, you've set the national template to duplicate, as was done by the Mosum First Nation with their Canadian pale, using their own colors and their own symbol to make a superb pair of related yet distinct national and subnational flags. Love it, love it, love it!

So line up and let's take a look at what you've done to compare, starting with the twins: Ontario and Manitoba. Ah, right! So I understand you're going for the historical Canadian look to match the nation's old red ensign, and you really wanted that look, as you only made these flags official after the old ensign got swapped for the leaf. Strong statement for history, for sure, but I'm sorry, they just look terrible. I mean, you've got two flags on your flag—never a good start! Yes, one is for your constitutional monarchy, and the other for your Royal Coat of Arms, but the Royal pixie dust sprinkled upon them doesn't make them look any better as flags. I get what you're going for, and had all your siblings done the jack and arms kind of like Australia, mostly, it could have been better but with only two of you and right next door, it's the worst of everything. F tier! I'm sorry; have a freezy.

Next, Nova Scotia. Well, as a St Andrews cross, reverse capped with the crest of the King of Scots, it sure is super Scotland! Given your name, Nova Scotia, that's clearly what you wanted—related yet distinct to a different country but still looks pretty good. B tier!

Step up, Saskatchewan! Right, another Royal Coat of Arms, or part of one, anyway. Your full version goes all out with a king beaver atop who sadly didn't make it onto this. By color with green for the forests of the north and yellow for the grain of the south, from which grows the Prairie Lily. I wish it was a bit simpler, but the colors stand out. C tier!

Next, Nunavut! Bam! Right in your face with an ANUK shook! But that's how you want your traditional land markers to be: big and obvious to help you navigate the north along with that North Star. I don't know; it's different, but I like it, and I can't believe you resisted using your coat of arms! It's got a narwhal on it—points for restraint, I guess, but someone surely should take a design advantage of one of these crazy creatures. Anyway, your flag uniquely conveys a feeling of the far north best. In B tier!

Europe, Yukon! Did you use a narwhal? No? Well, okay, uh, it's a good-looking coat of arms for sure, with bonus points for that good boy atop, but this Canadian pale fail hurts my OCD heart. Why? You lost your best boy! Bonus points for that. C tier!

Next, Prince Edward Island. Oof! It sure is old-looking, but man, those trees are killing me, and that incomplete border drives me crazy with a need to complete it. I don't think this is very good, but it's still better than the twins, with a point for distinctiveness. D tier!

Northwest Territories! Another coat of arms, I see! This time with an ickle fox face, but a missed opportunity to use the full version, which would have won most narwhals an award. Sadly, no one will win today—what a disappointment! Anyway, your coat of arms is fine, if a bit boring, but I have to give you a bonus point for being the first flag to follow the Canadian pale pattern, and actually, you're the only one! Wow, have an award—enjoy it! C tier!

And up next, Alberta, with just a coat of arms on a background of blue. I'm sorry to say your flag is the state seal of Canadian flags—kind of a coincidence given Calgary is also the Colorado of Canadian flags. Love the moxie to put a cowboy hat on there, but I'm not grading city flags here. Alberta, your flag is just too dull for the province that promises Northern forever! West would be better with a hat. D tier!

Next, New Brunswick. Am I losing my flagging mind? I love this! The quaintness calls to me with this age of exploration design—the berry, wavy ocean, the little sailing ship. I'm completely charmed against my better judgment. A tier!

Next in line, Newfoundland and Labrador! Is this... are you done with the design? Oh, okay! I guess I just kind of want to do a bit more—like dark mode. Rotate it into a banner for a space empire, but for now, it's futuristic while nodding to the past. Distinct than the coat of arms, but not as iconic as Nunavut, but close. I'm giving it a C++! Oh, and yes, I know all about your tricolor too, though trying to track down where it really came from was a mess that went nowhere. I know it's not official, but it's also impossible to skip. It's a solid standard tricolor—I wish it was a Canadian pale, but using the rarely seen pink, I'll give it a B minus minus!

Now behold, British Columbia, and boy, is this flag a gong show! But it manages to cross that merland endpoint where ugly becomes awesome. A tier!

And last but never least, the Belle Province herself: Quebec! S tier! Rihanna, rer! And that was the video! I do hope you liked it. I know people take flags very seriously. I normally don't re-watch my videos once they're done, so it was an even stranger experience to have re-edited this one during redecorations.

On second viewing, I'd probably adjust a couple of those grades up or down now with having had more time to reflect, but I'll leave it to the serious to argue about which those should be. Though I must say, sorry P.E.I.; I was too hard on you! Have some raspberry cordial on me before you go! Catch a Kaye!

And if you just can't get enough flag tier lists, I do have another Bonnie B bonus video on the American territories, which you can get by clicking here—uh, by clicking here! Oh, right! YouTube only lets me put up links in the last 20 seconds of a video. Very annoying! So we'll have to wait until the very end for the link, but as always, there's no pressure to become a Bonnie B. The bonuses are just my way to say thank you to all of you who do and thus support me and my team in making the main videos for everyone to watch.

In that spirit, I stumbled upon another story for Gray Reads: a series I really didn't think I would continue until I found "The Fir Tree" by Hans Christian Andersen—a kind of holiday three-fur set at Christmas with themes of Thanksgiving and, uh, unintentional tree body horror for a hint of Halloween. So I recorded that too for the surprising number of Bonnies who apparently like to fall asleep to my stories. Those are there alongside all the regular stuff, like about a dozen hours of behind-the-scenes director's commentaries, including the Rock Paper Scissors project, which I know I keep mentioning, but boy, did that really rock my year by becoming the biggest project yet! Surely something like that will never happen again.

And one last thing! You can now give Bonnie B status as a gift, as long as you've got the email for your gift! So if you are struggling for a very last minute, no wrapping required gift to give to the explainer fan in your life, it's an option. The link for how to do that will have to be in the description because YouTube won't let me put two links on screen at once. But you know what? In the spirit of this ungrateful tree who probably got what he deserved, thank you YouTube! I know I complain, but there's no one better for video makers than you, but don't tell them I said so!

Oh, now it's time for the link! Well, there you go everyone! Click if you're interested, and if not, no worries! I truly wish all of my viewers to have the happiest of holidays and the best of luck in the new years that we have remaining. Make good use of them! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!