 On 15 February 1965, the maple leaf flag formally replaced the Union Flag as the flag of Canada following an official proclamation by Elizabeth II; with the Royal Union Flag made an official ceremonial flag.The Union Flag was also the formal flag for the Dominion of Newfoundland, a separate dominion of the British Empire from 1907 to 1949.Newfoundland retained the use of the Union Flag as the official flag of the province after it joined Canadian confederation in 1949.