At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the maple leaf was adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians. Its popularity continued and in 1834. The maple leaf was one of numerous emblems proposed to represent the society. The first mayor of Montreal described the maple as "the king of our forest and the symbol of the Canadian people". The maple leaf slowly became a national symbol: in 1868, it was included in the coat of arms of both Ontario and Quebec, and was added o the Canadian coat of arms in 1921. The maple leaf finnaly bacame the central national symbol with the introductiom of the Canadian flag in 1965.
