Coordinates: 45°25′25″N 75°41′56″W / 45.423671981652°N 75.698822249253°W / 45.423671981652; -75.698822249253

The Peace Tower in view on Parliament Hill

The Centennial Flame is a symbolic flame that forms the central element of a fountain, itself located symmetrically in the walkway between the Queen's Gates and the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario.

Lit by then Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson on New Year's Eve 1966, to officially inaugurate the Canadian Centennial celebrations, the flame is fed by a natural gas jet that sits under a metal dome depicting the centennial year logo: a stylised maple leaf. The flame, however, is not an eternal one, as it is routinely extinguished during inclement weather or for cleaning, and relit.

The fountain's water runs from beneath the coats of arms for each of the provinces and territories of Canada as they existed in 1966, into a moat surrounded by a wall that lists the year each province and territory joined the Canadian Confederation in Canada.

[edit] References

• Public Works and Government Services Canada – Centennial Flame

v • d • e Parliament Hill Parliament of Canada West Block · Centre Block · East Block Centre Block Senate · Commons · Peace Tower · Library of Parliament Monuments Queen's Gates · Centennial Flame · Victoria Tower Bell · Canadian Police Memorium Parliamentary Precinct Confederation Building · Justice Annex · Justice Building · Langevin Block · Victoria Building · Wellington Building

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