| The Royal Canadian Legion | |
| Abbreviation: | RCL |
| Region Served: | Worldwide |
| Type: | Veterans' organization |
| Status: | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters: | Dominion Command 86 Aird Place Ottawa |
| Location Country: | Canada |
| Membership: | 232,359 |
| Membership Year: | 2022 |
| Leader Title: | Grand Patron |
| Leader Name: | Governor General of Canada |
| Leader Title2: | Honorary Grand President |
| Leader Name2: | Larry Murray |
| Leader Title3: | Dominion President |
| Leader Name3: | Bruce Julian |
| Affiliations: | Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League |
| Former Name: | Canadian Legion |
The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian veterans' organization founded in 1925.[1] Members include people who served in the military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial or municipal police, Royal Canadian Air, Army and Sea Cadets and direct relatives.
In Canada, several veterans' organizations emerged after the First World War. The Great War Veterans Association was the largest of 15. Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, founder of the British Empire Service League (now known as the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League), visited Canada in 1925 and urged them to merge. That year, the Dominion Veterans Alliance served this purpose.[2]
In November 1925, the Canadian Legion was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League, incorporated by a 1926 special Act of Parliament. It grew steadily through the 1930s, then expanded rapidly following the Second World War. In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II granted it royal patronage and so it became the Royal Canadian Legion.
On 10 November 1975, Canada Post issued "The Royal Canadian Legion, 1925–1975" designed by Rudy Kovach. The 8¢ stamps are perforated 13 and were printed by British American Bank Note Company.[3]
The National Headquarters of The Royal Canadian Legion in Ottawa, Ontario, feature a Wall of Remembrance, adorned by a three-metre long stainless steel sword (2006) by André Gauthier, who also provided a small work of art on the theme of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (2001) and “Of Such as These” (2003), a small bas-relief of Canadian World War II soldiers, presented by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute to Legion's National Secretariat.
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 593 erected a memorial in Ottawa dedicated to those who died in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.[4]
A number of military museums are co-located and affiliated with Royal Canadian Legions.
| Name | Town/city/region | Province | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herman J. Good V.C Branch No.18 Royal Canadian Legion War Museum | Military | |||
| Royal Canadian Legion Military Museum | Grand Falls-Windsor | Military | Operated by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 12 | |
| Royal Canadian Legion Military Museum | Military | |||
| Hall of Remembrance Military Museum | Military | |||
| Royal Canadian Legion Branch 72 Museum | Military | Open by request and for special events, local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion | ||
| Kensington Veterans Memorial Museum | Military | Adjacent to the Royal Canadian Legion, includes uniforms, medals, hand weapons, flags, photographs and maps | ||
| Royal Canadian Legion Museum | Saskatoon West Central | Military | Uniforms, medals and memorabilia of the Royal Canadian Legion | |
| Royal Canadian Legion Branch 80 Museum (Ken Snider Memorial Museum) | Military | Open by request and for special events, local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion | ||
Most small towns and villages in Canada have at least one Legion Hall. Often the Legion Hall is a major community centre, combining the functions of a pub, pool hall, dance hall, bingo hall, banquet hall, and so on.[5]
Legion Halls are numbered, for example "Branch 99 Royal Canadian Legion". This is not a nationwide numbering system; instead, each provincial Command has its own numerical sequence. "Branch 99", therefore, can refer to any of several Legion Halls, as follows: Belleville, Ontario; Cowansville, Quebec; Lipton/Dysart, Saskatchewan; Coronation, Alberta (a branch that has closed); Sicamous, British Columbia; or Emo, Ontario (in the Manitoba/Northwestern Ontario Command).
The Royal Canadian Legion Maple Leaf Post-84 is located in Royal Oak, Michigan.
The poppy is a powerful symbol associated in Canada with loss, sacrifice and remembrance. With the formation of the Legion in 1925 the poppy was adopted as a national symbol of remembrance. In 1948, the Government of Canada awarded the poppy's trademark to the Royal Canadian Legion to protect the image from misuse. This still restricts its usage in Canada to remembrance under the authority of the Royal Canadian Legion.
The Legion is responsible for Canada's remembrance poppy campaign which distributes plastic lapel poppies to be worn in the lead up to Remembrance Day. The poppy is worn on the left lapel, or as close to the heart as possible. The current lapel poppy has been manufactured since 1922—originally under the sponsorship of the Department of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment.[6] Until 1996, the poppy material was manufactured at sheltered workshops operated by Veterans Affairs Canada. Poppies are distributed through retail outlets, workplaces, Legion branches, malls and other locations across Canada. Typically, the poppies are offered up for donation as a symbol of remembrance, using an honour system, with the poppies being left in open places with a receptacle for leaving a donation toward the campaign. Funds raised are used to support ex-service members in need and to fund medical appliances and research, home services, care facilities and numerous other purposes benefiting veterans.[7]
In 1962, the Legion began a summer sports camp at the International Peace Garden; the camp ran until 2019. More than 60,000 school age athletes. Several sports were offered over a five-week period. The program was founded by George H. Phillips and Fred Taylor.
There are many privately run Legion bands across the country, acting independently and in the community in which they are based. They are attached to different legion branches and include full concert show bands, and marching bands. The Royal Canadian Legion Concert Band in Toronto has been active for over a century and is one of the oldest legion bands in the country.[8] Many legion bands were led by former bandsmen, most notably James Gayfer, director of the Band of the Canadian Guards from 1953 to 1961, who founded the Petawawa Legion Community Band in 1978.[9] In May 1978, legion bands congregated at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal for the Legion Day celebrations, becoming one of the largest legion combined activities recorded.[10]
The Legion supports the Lest We Forget Project in cooperation with the Canadian War Museum.
In 2015, the Royal Canadian Legion donated $830,000 to the BCIT School of Business to fund the Legion Military Skills Conversion Program. This program helps Canadian veterans and reservists convert their military skills and knowledge into a business credential.[11]
The Royal Canadian Legion provides assistance to veterans and eligible family members before the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. The RCL and the Bureau of Pensions Advocates often work together to prepare cases and represent veteran clients before the board when those clients wish to appeal disability pension and award decisions made by Veterans Affairs Canada.
Membership in The Royal Canadian Legion was originally restricted to ex-service members of Canada's Armed Forces and Merchant Navy.[12] The organization is now open to members of the general public. There are four categories of membership.[13]
Ordinary membership is open to anyone who has served or is serving in one of the following:
Individuals who do not qualify for ordinary membership can be associate members if one of the following applies:
Commonwealth subjects who do not qualify for ordinary or associate membership are eligible for affiliate membership.
Non-Commonwealth subjects from an Allied nation who support the aims and objects of The Royal Canadian Legion can apply for affiliate non-voting membership.
There is a Royal Canadian Legion fond at Library and Archives Canada.[14] The archival reference number is R2966, former archival reference number MG28-I298.[15] The fond covers the date range 1897 to 1987. It consists of:
The Royal Canadian Legion has received the freedom of several cities. These include, chronologically:
The 5P Legal Services Team provides assistance for veterans completing and submitting application forms and effective representation for veterans appearing at Veterans Review and Appeal Board hearings in Ottawa and Ontario.