Which animal is a symbol of Canada’s North?
- The beaver
- The bison
- The caribou
- The moose
Answer: The caribou
The caribou, also called the reindeer, is a symbol of Canada’s North and is popular game for hunters there. The beaver, by contrast, appears on the five-cent coin and was long a symbol of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Learn more: Coat of arms, motto and other emblems
- Canada’s motto is A Mari Usque Ad Mare, Latin for “from sea to sea.”
- The coat of arms and motto were adopted after the First World War.
- The coat of arms has symbols of England, France, Scotland and Ireland, plus red maple leaves.
- The arms appear on dollar bills, government documents and public buildings.
- The idea of “dominion from sea to sea” comes from Psalm 72. It inspired Sir Leonard Tilley to suggest the name Dominion of Canada in 1864.
- The Hudson’s Bay Company adopted the beaver as its symbol centuries ago.
- In 1834 the beaver became an emblem of the St. Jean Baptiste Society, a French-Canadian patriotic group.
- The beaver is on the five-cent coin and on the coats of arms of Saskatchewan, Alberta, Montreal and Toronto.
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, “the Mounties”) are the national police force and one of Canada’s best-known symbols. They began as the North West Mounted Police in 1873.
- The caribou (reindeer) is a symbol of Canada’s North.