The Flag—A painting by Byam Lister Shaw

By Guest Column —— Bio and Archives April 2, 2010

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- Bill Bishop This painting is now at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. ("It's not on display"). It was displayed in 1919 at the Toronto Canadian National Exhibition along with a large number of other various works of "War Art" and was the most popular image wherever it traveled. Byam Shaw had chosen to represent the sacrifice of the Canadian soldier by placing the body draped with the Canadian Red Ensign between the paws of the British Lion and surrounded by those for whom the sacrifice had been made. Particularly poignant is the fact that two of the models in the painting were to die in World War Two and that they were both Byam Shaw's sons. It's just the kind of material that should be on display year round at the Canadian War Museum.