Just in time for Remembrance Day 2024, nearly 500 special street banners have been installed across downtown Vancouver, including strategic blocks along Monday’s parade route.
It is all part of an initiative to honour veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and mark the 100th anniversary of the construction of Victory Square and its cenotaph.
The program was first publicly announced this past spring, when Legion BC/Yukon Command aimed to reach an installation of 1,000 banners this year.
The organization sought donations, with the donors then given the ability to have a veteran’s photo featured on the banner, such as a photo of their loved one who served in the armed forces.
John Middleton, a volunteer for the Legion BC/Yukon Command, told Daily Hive Urbanized that while they achieved about half of their banner installation goal this year, they will aim to reach the full 1,000 banners in 2025.
The banners can now be found on select segments of West Hastings Street, Richards Street, Cordova Street, Cambie Street, Pender Street, Abbott Street, Main Street, West Georgia Street, and the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts. These newly installed banners are intended to be temporary, as they will only remain in place until the end of this month.
Examples of the Victory Square 100 banners installed in Vancouver to honour Canadian Armed Forces veterans. just in time for 2024 Remembrance Day. (Submitted)
Examples of the Victory Square 100 banners installed in Vancouver to honour Canadian Armed Forces veterans. just in time for 2024 Remembrance Day. (Submitted)
The 2024 banner program was also made possible by donations and funding from local developers Onni Group, PCI Developments, and Beedie, as well as London Drugs, Arnold Silver Family Foundation, and the City of Vancouver.
In early October 2024, to support the initiative, Vancouver City Council unanimously approved a member motion by councillors Brian Montague and Lenny Zhou directing City staff to offset municipal crew costs for banner installation and approve $15,000 worth of funding grants to the Legion to help cover the program’s direct costs.
Middleton told Daily Hive Urbanized that the first year of this banner program will place a greater emphasis on veterans with Chinese Canadian heritage.
One of the veterans featured in this year’s banners is Bill Chow, a Vancouverite who was a member of the secretive commando trained by the British Army and sent to Southeast Asia to work behind Japanese lines in the Second World War. He passed away in 2013.
Examples of the Victory Square 100 banners installed in Vancouver to honour Canadian Armed Forces veterans. just in time for 2024 Remembrance Day. (Submitted)
Examples of the Victory Square 100 banners installed in Vancouver to honour Canadian Armed Forces veterans. just in time for 2024 Remembrance Day. (Submitted)
After the main Vancouver ceremony held at Victory Square each year, many dignitaries participate in an additional Remembrance Day ceremony held nearby at Chinatown’s Memorial Square, which honours Chinese Canadian veterans who fought for Canada in both World Wars and other conflicts where Chinese Canadians also served.
As part of a broader initiative, earlier this week, the new Chinese Canadian Museum in Chinatown announced it will open a new exhibition in Spring 2025 to honour Chinese Canadian veterans in both World Wars and coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
The museum’s dedicated military exhibition called “A Soldier for All Seasons” is currently under construction, and it will feature stories of brave Chinese Canadians, with many born in Canada and fighting for the country even though they were not legally recognized as Canadian citizens.
As well, also in early 2025, Vancouver and Whistler will host the Invictus Games — a global athletic competition for wounded, sick, and injured service members and veterans. The week-long event, founded by Prince Harry, will kick off with the opening ceremony held at BC Place Stadium on February 8.
“I AM” sign for the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 at Jack Poole Plaza. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
“I AM” sign for the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 at Terry Fox Plaza at BC Place Stadium. (Submitted)
As for this year’s centennial of Victory Square, located at the southwest corner of the intersection of West Hastings Street and Cambie Street, it was previously the site of one of the city’s original courthouse buildings.
In 1924, about a decade after the courthouse was demolished, Victory Square and the cenotaph were constructed on the site, initially serving to honour Canadians who recently fought in the First World War. Just years earlier, the site was a major enlisting location for soldiers.
In 2002, Victory Square received a major renovation that provided a new and improved layout and features, including new lamps inspired by the shape of the helmets of soldiers.
Public unveiling of Victory Square and the cenotaph in April 1924. (City of Vancouver Archives)
Existing condition of Victory Square and the cenotaph in downtown Vancouver. (Mike Hardiman/Shutterstock)